Anything and Everything 3: Remnant
by Buddyboy98
Summary: -Complete- The Long Family had grown and everything had seemed to get better for them. But as fate would have it, the enemy of all returns once more for his final revenge. Can Rose and Jake use a weapon that the Huntsclan developed to stop and him?
1. Grandmother Hutchinson

**Prologue**

**3.5 years after the events of the epilogue of 'The Power of Draco'  
**

**

* * *

**With a movement of her hand, she pulled the gear shift and the car stopped halted by its breaks. Rose Long looked over to her passenger and wondered what he was thinking at this moment, they had stopped in front of a large palatial home, whose inhabitant could change both of their lives. They had left New York City for a two hour drive up to East Hampton in Suffolk Country, they had come for this moment, if everything would go as they wanted then Erin Hutchison's mother, Johnny's Grandmother would be living here and she would know where to find her. Rose had promised her son-in-law that she was going to help him find his mother and she would until they either knew where she was and were they could find her, or where she was buried.

"Are you okay?" Rose asked softly wishing that she wouldn't have to drive back home in the rain that was pouring down on the landscape. "Do you want me to go up there with you?"

Johnny shook his head not even sure if he wanted to do this right now, his eyes were still trained on the front door of the home. "I'm not sure, do you think she'll even know who I am?"

"She was a senior member of the Huntsclan, you'd have to have one hell of a memory to do that job correctly, so I'm sure that she would be able to see Erin in you," Rose supplied. "She'll love you honey"

He turned and looked over at her smiling. "Well then what are we waiting for?"

Steadying her breath she paused for a moment and considered what to do, and then she opened the door and jumped out of the car quickly slamming it behind her. Then not even waiting for Johnny she ran up the long walkway that divided the trimly cut manicured lawn, the heels of her black knee high boots clicked against the pavement as she ran to avoid the rain until she reached the safety of the front porch and the awning. She looked back and saw Johnny still in the car staring at her as if she had three heads, groaning as she caught her breath she realized that he was chickening out of this. How dangerous could a woman in her sixties be? The answer came to her in an ironic twist, Ms. Hutchison had been a senior member of the Huntsclan for thirty five years before she left. That was incredibly dangerous, but Rose could handle her, she after all had been the Huntsgirl and student of the Huntsman himself

She walked forward and pressed the door bell, her heart was beating fast as she saw a figure approaching the door through the stain glass on door itself. Finally her breath stopped when the door opened and a woman who looked to be in her mid sixties opened the door. Rose could see how this woman was her best friend's mother, she looked just like her separated by the fact that they had to be thirty years younger, and the fact that the woman's green eyes looked worn, and her hair was mostly gray with only tinges of black in it. She thought how stunning it could be that the this woman's looks were passed down to her children and grandchildren and only one of her great-grandchildren. Rose didn't need any confirmation that this was her, this was Erin's mother. "Uhm…would you happen to be Jackie Hutchison… Erin Hutchison's mother…?"

"Yes I am," Jackie replied her green eyes widening. "If you know her why didn't you go to her?"

Rose shook her head. "It's been a long time, I was a friend of hers…at the academy…"

That seemed to snap something in the woman's eyes, she reached forward and snatched Rose's arm pulling her into the home. When the door shut behind her she felt herself being pressed up back up against the door, and then her eyes bugged when she saw the woman had brandished a knife and it was now being held against her throat. "I am not going back! Neither is she!"

"Mrs. Hutchison! I'm not here to bring you back," Rose asked with panic in her voice. "I left myself, I knew Erin…I'm Rose did she ever talk about me, we were best friends, please you have to believe me, I'm just trying to find her"

Jackie's narrow face stoned up and her eyes narrowed. "I don't believe you, I'm not going sell her out, I told her I would keep her location a secret, tell me something that only she would know! Or I will kill you and ship you back to the Huntsman in pieces…"

"She had a boy, _Johnny_! Looked just like her, he's out in my car right now!" Rose explained feverishly.

Then her hand dropped and her grip that had held Rose to the wall dropped and the younger woman dropped to her feet. Rose thought the look on the woman's face was that as if she had seen a ghost, she put her hands on her hips and looked at Jackie. The woman had stowed the knife into the pocket of her jeans, and now she was looking down at the floor and the shock and surprised radiated from her. Rose took a minute to look around the home and she found it quite quaint, the giant fireplace in the living room was crackling, a large television was going with a news program. And most of all she found the heat in the room incredibly comforting.

"How do you know my grandsons name?" Rose finally heard the other woman say meekly.

Rose turned back to Jackie with a flat look on her face. "He's my son in law, he married my daughter"

"That's great," Jackie sputtered with smile and faint laugh. "Y-You said that he was on in your car?"

She nodded, and pointed towards the door. "He would have been with me, if he didn't get scared at the last minute, I'm just trying to help him find Erin, his father didn't even tell him she existed, _I _did that…I promised him that I would help him find her, can you tell me?"

"I'd prefer to tell him myself," Jackie trained her eyes on Rose. "Can you get him to come in?"

Rose smiled. "I think I can try, and by the way, that's a nice grip you got on you"

* * *

This time when Rose had gone back outside of the house, she had the blessing of an umbrella to keep her shielded from the rain. She had to literally pull Johnny out of the car, he needed to meet his Grandmother, because that was the only way that she was going to tell them were to find Erin. With one of her hands she had a tight grip on Johnny's arm and the other she held the Umbrella over the two of them. Rose had to question if her son-in-law was ready for this right now, his life had stabilized dramatically since the war ended with the Huntsclan's virtual destruction. She looked over to him and grinned. "Easy, don't be so nervous…"

"Rose, I saw when she pulled you into the house, just image what she'll do with me if I piss her off." Johnny said with a shaky voice. "I don't know if I can do this right now!"

She stopped which caused him to stop. "You can do this, she'll tell you were you mom is, and besides that fact she's your grandmother, she'll love you unconditionally…"

"I guess your right" Johnny groaned. "Do I look like an adorable grandson?"

Rose laughed and winked at him. "Way too adorable, now come on she's waiting…"

* * *

Twins, who would have thought that he would be the father of twins? Eight months ago his wife had given birth to two twin boys. On top of that she had given him another girl a year after his first son was born. Jake laughed at the thought of his life now, he had three sons and two daughters, five kids, he always wanted a big family and now that he had one it was less gratifying then he had hoped. But it gave him and his wife something to do. And not to mention the fact that the was a grandfather before he hit forty, his daughter had given a birth to a boy six months after his first son was born, and last year she had given birth to another boy. He was one hell of a grandpa and father, and he wouldn't have asked for anything less.

Jake was leaning back in his recliner watching one of his favorite television shows when he heard a clatter come from the kitchen, David was probably into something. Chuckling he pulled himself out of the chair and turned the television off, before stretching his legs and making his way to the kitchen. The apartment that they now lived in was significantly larger than the one they had before they moved to the Isle of the Draco, and much larger than the one they actually lived in on the Isle. It had more than appropriate space for the size of his family with four bathrooms and six bedrooms including a guest bedroom and the master bedroom, and it encompassed the entire side of the apartment building that they lived in. When he finally made it to the kitchen, his thoughts were halted when he laid his eyes on his son, and then he grinned. Three year old David Jacob Long had spilled flour all over himself.

His son's large dark eyes locked onto his own, and then a childish giggle came from the boy as if he had done something really funny. "I'm sorry Daddy, I knock da' bowl off edge and it went all over me! Will Mommy be mad at me…?"

Jake shook his head, this was the child that Rose was carrying during the last days of the war, and he seemed to carry that same fire that he had seen before in his older daughter. With an amused laugh, he walked forward and sunk down to his haunches in front of the boy bringing his hands he light nuzzled the boy's dark hair causing white flour to fly off of his head.

"Buddy, I think its best that we don't tell Mommy about this," Jake looked at him grinning with delight. "I can keep it a secret if you can…"

David smiled and nodded his head emphatically and proudly "S-Sure I can! Do you want me to help you clean t-this up?"

Smiling at his son's lack of ability to pronounce some of his words, he shook his head and lightly patted him on the shoulder. "I've got it DJ, how 'bout you go get cleaned up…"

"Ok" David said with laughter in his voice running out of the kitchen, flour falling off his entire body. His father marveled in the fact of how much he looked himself, he had his black hair and eyes, but his complexion was that of his mothers.

Sighing Jake looked at the scene in front of him, a stainless steel bowl was lying upside down with flour strewn out on all of its sides. Throwing his head up he resigned himself to thinking that he was raising boys, and one girl, which of course he was used to that, but boys were something different. They seemed to be more rambunctious, and rough housed a little bit more, Jake chuckled and stepped over to the mess that his son had created and walked towards the broom closet. Maybe he could get it cleaned up in time before Rose got home.

* * *

What had happened in that house was very surreal, what Erin's mother had just told herself and Johnny shocked her completely. She was alive, and doing very well according to Jackie, she had been married for seven years, and she had two more kids and son and a daughter. All of that failed to shock Johnny more than the thought of having a half little brother and sister somewhere. Rose on the other hand was not surprised, Erin had always been the one to need a family, and the only reason that Erin had left Johnny with his father was simply because she wouldn't have a choice but to turn over her son, or her family would pay. But that had all ended now, Paul had been dead for three years and the Huntsclan was disbanded regardless of all that had remained after the war.

The rain had cleared, she thanked god for that, and as she was walking side by side with her son in law back down the walk way, she could hear him breathing heavily. "How are you feeling?"

"A little overwhelmed," Johnny said. "I can't believe I'm a phone call or a car ride away from her"

Rose nodded. "I can't either, can you wait to meet your brother and sister?"

The young man chuckled. "Or my step-father, I can honestly say no, I just hope they like me"

"How can they not? Albeit you might be a little hard to explain but…" Rose stopped for a moment.

Johnny turned to her. "But what exactly…?"

"I mean if I were one of her kids, I might be a little jealous if mother had to share her love with a brother that I had never met" Rose said quietly as the approached the end of the walkway.

That made him white with fear, he would be intruding in on their lives and he could quite possibly shatter the glass that his mother had built around her life. He swallowed the lump in his throat as Rose broke off contact with him and walked around the front. Reaching forward he opened the door and in one fluid motion he seated himself in the car and quickly buckled his seatbelt. Johnny's mouth had gone completely dry, his grandmother had told him that his mom was living in Brooklyn with her family. She lived literally right across the river from the apartment he and his family lived in, ironic twists plagued his life and he hated it allot.

"So when do you think you'll go meet her?" Rose asked as she started up the car.

Johnny shook his head sighing. "I have no idea, I was thinking about this weekend, I take it you might want to come with me?"

"Are you crazy of course I would love too, I want to see the look on her face when I tell her that you married my daughter" Rose snickered and turned the steering wheel.

* * *

Erin Hutchinson couldn't believe what she had just heard from her mother, she had wanted to avoid all of her ties with the Huntsclan but she knew that it would come back to bite her one day, but it was what her mom had told her about the Huntsclan itself that frightened her. She didn't believe for one moment that Huntsclan had been disbanded and totally defeated, enough to the point where her old best friend and her son would go to her mother's house and ask about her. She set the phone in her hand down on the receiver slowly, and she stared off in the distance at far wall of her home. What was she going to do? Her husband and other kids didn't know about the magical world and her past in the Huntsclan, and telling them about the Huntsclan seemed the only way to logically explain the existence of Johnny. But the more the she thought about it, the more her sprits seemed to lift higher.

She couldn't wait to see what he had become, and how he had come to know Rose, for that matter she couldn't wait to see Rose again. With a laugh she wondered if her old friend had gotten old, she certainly hoped not, because that would mean she would be getting older. Folding her arms around her chest, she smiled brighter, this might work out well in the end. She really didn't know, but her mother had told her that he had grown into in impressive young man.

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X

An: / Well, this was honestly the best I thought I could do with a prologue, and to make it clear, yes Rose and Jake do have three more kids, two more boys and a girl, at that rate I could image if I was living in this universe, she had kids for every year since the last story. Johnny and Alyssa had another boy along with the one from the last story. They will be introduced in the next chapter, but now as I am writing this I'm wondering why I took the time to Introduce Rose and Jake's first son and why I didn't do that with Alyssa and Johnny's, I think I'll introduce them all in the next chapter. Anyway, do me a favor, and please review this, I can't wait to really get going on this story.


	2. Mr and Mrs Long

Chapter 1

Rose had been a police officer with the Los Angeles Police Department for eight years and with that she had been a detective for seven straight years, that time span had come to a grinding halt in the process of a few hours, four years ago. And as much as she just wanted to say it was a career to fill up her time during that very long decade and a half, it wasn't, it was the only thing she was good at other than killing magical creatures among other things. She didn't want Jake to know this, but she wanted to go back to law enforcement, and that's why she had applied for a position at the New York Police Department. A few months ago she had applied her record at the LAPD to the New York Authorities and she had been waiting for a response, if that would happen then she would hopefully be given a commission at a stationhouse.

After she had dropped off Johnny, she had to rush to the post office before it closed, today was supposed to be the date they responded. Thankfully she had gotten there before it closed and now she sat in the parking garage across the street from the Apartment Building, held up in her car holding the letter that might change her life in a dramatic way. If she were reinstated as a detective of the NYPD, then she would definitely be away from home a lot and that would impact her family in a way she didn't care to think about. But she wanted to do this, and she was going to do this if they would take her. Taking in one last breath, she held the envelope up and not with an ounce of patience in her body; she ripped the top off in a crude gesture.

Grabbing hold of the letter inside she unfolded it and her eyes drifted over it, and then she reached the middle section of the letter, and the breath was taken out of her, shock overcame her.

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X

Jake looked at the clock that hung over the entrance of the kitchen, Rose was late, she had left this morning to take a car ride with their son-in-law up to East Hampton, they thought they had found Johnny's Grandmother and he was curious to see if that had done that. Leaning up against the kitchen counter he somehow knew that she was going to come bursting through the front door in moment, it was just something that he had been attuned to in four years of marriage. His narrowed as he looked up at the clock again, and as he was just about to call her on her cell phone, he heard the door the apartment open, and sure enough she was there.

When she walked into the kitchen she had a letter in her hand and she looked as if she had seen a ghost or had received a rather large shock. When she didn't greet him, he knew something was getting at her. He grinned mischievously at her and waved his hand in the air in front of his face.

"Earth to Rose," He said in a drone like voice. "Are you there?"

She had an idiotic grin on her face. "Uh…yea…I have something to tell you…want it now?"

"I think that would be best, judging by the look on your face, it's big" Jake smiled grinning.

Bringing up her hand, she offered the letter to him and he walked forward and grabbed it and it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out why she was so stunned. He had to read it again just to be sure that his eyes weren't playing tricks on him, more importantly he wondered why he hadn't heard anything about this. He didn't care if the letter dropped the floor even if it meant a lot to Rose, all he wanted right now was in explanation for this. "…I'm happy for you…but when…?"

"A few weeks before I gave birth to the twins" Rose said lowering her gaze.

Jake shook his head and the look on his face was purely of surprise. "When do you start?"

"I have to report in within the next two weeks," She breathed. "They'll assign me after that…"

He had to turn his head to contain the surprise that he was feeling, he always thought that cops had to go under training and go to an academy or something. But from what Rose had told him about those years in California she wouldn't need to if she ever decided to go back to her old career. "Don't you have to go back to the Police Academy or something?"

Rose shook her head clearly regaining her senses. "If I hadn't been promoted when I was back in California, then I might have, when I made detective that meant that I could get a job anywhere"

For the most part he would have to be happy for her even if he was worried, but what was he thinking this was Rose. She could fully handle herself when she was Pregnant; he had to imagine how effective she could be when she wasn't. Regardless of all of the things he was feeling right now, he was happy for her and he was happy that she was doing something that she wanted to do. He wouldn't mind, all as long as she made time for him and their family. Extending his arms to her she gratefully walked into them, welcoming the fact that he wasn't angry, she pressed her face into his chest and laughed. "I can't believe you're not angry about this…"

"I'm not angry babe," Jake paused. "I'm just worried, obviously you can see how I worried…"

Rose peeked her head up and smiled. "Jake, I am one tough broad, and I can handle myself…"

"I know you can, just if you decide to do this, I want you to take care of yourself" Jake said.

She would and she was going to do this, and apparently Jake knew that. When she was working in Los Angeles she swore to herself she would never get killed, shot was another story, but killed was something that she wasn't going to let happen to her. "Did you call Alyssa?"

"Why would I need to call her?" Jake asked still locked in a hug with his wife.

Rose narrowed her eyes. "We were supposed to go over there and dinner with them tonight"

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X

AN:/ This is just a "Teaser" if you will, very short, so leave a review tell me what you think. In the next chapter we will check in with Erin, and see the chaos that ensues when Jake forgets that he, Rose and their kids have a dinner to go to with Alyssa and Johnny. And to answer the question about Haley, yes she will make an appearance, and you will find out why at the end of the next chapter, I'll give you a hint (A rather blatant one) she's gonna introduce the villain. By the way, I'm going back over the original story, editing, lengthening and making it compatible with the plot that I set up in 'The Power of Draco' and this current story, if you have a chance, would you take a glance at it and tell me what you think?


	3. Fears, Dinner and Haley Long

Chapter 2

_She didn't want to believe that she was doing this, but she was and it was one of the hardest things that Erin Hutchison had ever done in her entire life. The baby nestled in her arms was a special one, and unfortunately for her, a baby she couldn't raise, not only was this child hers, but he was also the child of Paul Sindacco someone who was expected to be the next Huntsman within the next few years. This baby, he would always have a special place within her, this was her first child, her first son and no matter if she couldn't be with him, or couldn't raise him, or even know him, she would always love him. Now if only she could have someone she trusted keep an eye on her boy, someone who she trusted completely. And as she thought about it, she knew who to ask._

_Tonight would be the night, the night she would leave the Huntsclan forever and never look back on the horrible things that she had been told to do here. Her mother had left after three decades in the Huntsclan and she had come to the conclusion that she should do the same, no matter how hard it was now that she was a mother, mother of the son of a member of the Huntsclan Hierarchy. She cradled her son in the crook of her arm as she walked down the hall of the dormitory building she shared with the fellow trainees and learners at the academy. It was a single hallway with nine rooms in the hall itself, four on the left side of the hall, four on the right and a single room at the end of the hall, opposite of the elevator that was the only exit. _

_The single room at the end of the hall was that of her friend, Rose who was the Huntsgirl and that carried with it extraordinary privileges and perks. Erin knew that she was the only one she could trust to keep an eye on Johnny, for not only she was the Huntsgirl and the second highest ranking Hunter in the entire clan, but she was in more contact in Paul than Erin was and therefore she would see Johnny every now and then. Bringing up one of her fists she knocked on the door and waited for a reply. "Who is it?" She heard her friend ask. _

"_It's me," Erin replied impatiently. "I need to talk to you, it's very important…" _

_She heard a beeping sound off from the automatic lock on the door, and then Erin knew that she had been allowed in, but still she would wait for confirmation from "Come on in…" _

_With that Erin swallowed the lump in her throat and with a hint of braveness and bold courage, she turned and walked into the room. When she got into the room, she spied Rose sitting on her bed in the Huntsclan's typical regulation pajamas, a brown top with a black bottoms, her hair was tied back in a loose ponytail of dirty blonde hair. She had a book sprawled out between her legs which she had probably been reading before Erin entered the room. "You look scared" _

"_Would it surprise you to know that I am?" Erin asked walking forward and sitting on the bed. _

_Rose leaned forward and caught of glimpse of her best friends child, she admired the boy's whips of black hair and his already bright green eyes. "That kids gonna break hearts one day" _

"_For some reason my mother has powerful genes," She remarked dryly looking down at her son who was staring up at her with wide-eyed curiosity. "I look like her, he looks like her, its weird…"_

_She smiled and shook her head. "The black hair complements the eyes, it's very pretty, I'm sure he won't find any problems finding a girl who will love him, but I know she's still not good enough, no one is except his mother…" _

"_I wish that were the case," Erin smiled. "I think tonight's the night I'm gonna leave, and I had a favor to ask of you, and it's crucial, because I wouldn't trust this to anyone but you…" _

_Rose crossed her arms around her chest and smiled. "You know I would…" _

"_I want you to make sure that he gets back to his father," Erin explained. "I don't care what you think of him, Paul I mean, I know you couldn't think any less of him, but make sure that he gets Johnny, because I know he loves his son…" _

_She was right, she hated Paul and she was surprised that a woman as beautiful as Erin had even glanced twice at him. But she had, enough to the point where they had a child, and that was still stunning to Rose, nine months later. All she could do was agree because she had no right to interfere in the child's life, and if Erin wanted her son to be with his father then so be it. _

"_You know I would, and I would be more than happy to look in on him every once in a while" She responded looking down at the boy who was smiling up at his mother in some mood of happiness. _

_Erin smiled. "I know you would, and keep Paul in check, for me…" _

_Oh she would do that eagerly, more she would look upon it as a job instead of a favor and that would be just great. Rose grinned. "Oh, I think I can try to do that" _

_X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X _

That night Erin had entrusted a lot of things to Rose and her best friend had promised her that she would look after and if necessary take care of Johnny, and still her mother's words rung in her ear clearly, she had followed through exceptionally. Rose was reliable to the end and her gratefulness at that point was incalculable, what got her more on a personal side was the fact that she was now a Grandmother. Apparently Johnny had married Rose's daughter and she had bore her son two kids, her Grandchildren. Just saying the word seemed to be almost strange to her. She had ten year old son and a seven year old daughter with her current husband of eleven years.

Mark, her husband, the only other man that she had loved the other being Paul, and the father of her other two children. She hadn't told him about the Huntsclan and she was sure that she never would, but the time was coming that she might need to. How else would she explain Johnny to him? Rose would be easier to explain, but Johnny, that was very difficult to Explain. More than likely she would have to tell him about Paul, her family's heritage, and the Magical World itself.

She sat on the couch in her living room, she was sitting in the room without a single hint of noise which in a house with two kids, a Husband and an Apartment in Brooklyn was an incredible feat to accomplish. Her Husband was at some bar having a drink with his friends, and her children were spending the night with their friends, that offered her a chance to be alone. She was going to take this chance to think about what she was going to do about her son and best friend.

The only problem she had was the fact that she didn't know what the hell to do.

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X

Maybe she didn't have to dress like she was going to a formal dinner or something, but she liked to look her best, it was just one of the things that her herself. Any moment now, she was expecting Jake to tell her that he had corralled their son DJ and their daughter Rachel into being ready to go over to Alyssa and Johnny's apartment. Sitting on the edge of the bed, she fiddled with the black pumps she wore on her feet and groaned, it seemed every time within the past month that she had bought a pair of shoes, within a few days afterwards, they seemed to grow tighter. Standing up she smoothed her long black dress that ended at her ankles and sighed, the dress too was getting tighter. Maybe it was her imagination but she seemed to be getting bigger. Rose narrowed her eyes at particularly nothing, and she had to think of all the possibilities of why she seemed to be growing larger.

The first possibility made her groan and rub her stomach slowly, things like this had happened to her a few times in her life, but usually nine months later she had a child, or in the case of her last pregnancy two children. Rose didn't want to be pregnant right now, it wasn't healthy if she was, and the timing wasn't great. Was she that damn fertile? Or was it Jake? Either way she wanted to vomit just thinking about it. "Rose? I got DJ ready and Rachel will be ready soon, the twins are with Mrs. Carrington across the hall she will be watching them, and I just got off the phone with Alyssa were having lasagna…"

Rose turned her head shut her eyes looking away from her husband who had appeared in the doorway. "I like your ability to create check lists, but we have a problem to talk about…"

"Oh?" Jake said stepping out of the doorway and shutting the door behind him.

She nodded. "Uhm…I seem to be getting bigger, my feet and my whole body are getting larger, and it may be due to the fact that I haven't gone to the gym in a few weeks or eh…"

"Is it what I think it is?" Jake asked approaching her, his face was flushed a color of white she hadn't seen before from him in before in her life. "Or do you need to go to the doctor?"

This was so strange for her that she didn't even know what to say, all she did was shrug and turn towards him. "I don't know, I mean I can take the test when we get back, and don't get me wrong if I am…pregnant…I'll be happy, but I didn't account on have another one so soon…"

"I didn't either," Jake said walked forward and putting his hands on her shoulders. "And if you are, can this be the last one? The more we have, the older we'll be before our life can start"

She snorted, of course she knew that, at that moment in time she promised herself that she would have her tubes tied as soon as this one came, if there was one coming anyway. Rose could not believe this was happening. "So I guess this puts your cop plans on hold?"

"Not necessarily," Rose said her blue eyes in a lazy focus. "I might be able to keep doing it until the third month at the most…"

Jake put his head down on her bare shoulder. "If you are, this is the last one, understand?"

"Yes sir," Rose smiled and tied her arms around his neck and kissed him gently. "And just for good measure, I think I'll have my tubes tied, that's after I have this kid, if I'm pregnant…"

He didn't hear her, he was in a world of his own while still hugging her. When he walked into the room, he was only prepared to tell Rose that they were almost ready to go, however he was not prepared to learn that he was having yet another child. Jake simply brought his hands around her waist and locked them together over the small of her back.

"That might be wise to do dear, unless you want to be a mother of nine when you hit forty" Jake inhaled deeply taking in her scent

Rose snickered. "I'll be damned…"

"So…eh…if you are, what are you hoping for? A boy or a girl" Jake asked with a hint of snicker in his voice.

She brought her hands up to run through his shortly cut black hair. "Oh dear god let it please be a girl, so we'll be even…"

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X

Alyssa Long-Sindacco was literally felt as if she was going insane, while balancing the duties of the American Dragon and protecting the Magical World. She had two boys to raise properly and a marriage to keep afloat, now she understood why her father and seemed so tired during the years of her childhood and the earlier part of her teen years. But she did have to give credit where it was due, if it weren't for her parents and her husband then she might have not made it this far, she might have indeed gone insane. Opening the oven door, she held a pot holder in her hand as she brought the pan out of the oven. Lasagna was the meal she had the best talent of cooking, everyone loved it.

Hearing footsteps as she set the pan on the stove, she turned and saw her son walk into the kitchen. Alyssa smiled at him, he looked more like a mixture of her mother and Johnny, which was a funny combination at best. He had blonde hair and her own complexion, but he had his father's eyes, lips and facial structure. Brian was just a beautiful child, but then again, his parents and grandparents weren't all that bad looking either so he came from good looking stock anyway. "Son, what can I do for you?"

"Mama I hungry, when are we g-going to eat?" Brian asked with a somewhat irritated tone.

Setting the potholder down, she cast him an amused look. "Well, when Grandma and Grandpa get here with your Aunt and Uncle, we'll eat"

"Can't I have something now?" He asked narrowing his eyes in childlike frustration

Alyssa shook her head with a laugh. "Sorry honey, it'll spoil your dinner…"

He didn't even respond to his mother, he simply stomped out of the kitchen and he looked as if he was on the verge of throwing a heavy fit. But he wasn't, he knew better than to test his mother. She turned her head and looked down at the creation she had just made, this was an example of the times she felt nervous about her new role as a caregiver and a provider. While her mother had spent fifteen years without giving care to anyone else, she was still the person Alyssa took pointers from and so far that had worked very well. She only hoped that she would always have her mother to go back to for advice if she needed to. And of course she always hoped she would have her husband to be her rock. "Hey, is it done?"

She rolled her eyes at the sound of her Husband's voice, he sounded impatient just like their son had been only moments before, and if she were a different person she would be laying into the both of them about patience. "Like I told Brian, yes it is, but we are going to wait for my parents"

"Oh come one Lyss, I was in car with your mother all day I'm starving" Johnny whined pouting his lips.

Alyssa smiled. "If you can overcome your fear of being alone with my mother for the whole day, then you can wait ten minutes…"

Shaking his head he grinned at her. "I still can believe she did that, did your dad ever find out?"

"I think my mother told him like a few hours after it actually happened," Alyssa said. "From what I hear, he's still a little ticked off about it, even after all this time"

Johnny couldn't believe that but when he recalled all the times he had gone over to his in law's apartment to have dinner with them or to visit, his father-in-law subtlety snubbed him. But he didn't do it all the time and that was good enough for Johnny, after all this man had threatened to kill him seemingly hundreds of times and on one occasion even beat the hell out of him. He leaned against the kitchen counter and folded his arms across his chest, he cast a toothy grin in the direction of his wife and she caught onto this returning his grin with a goofy mocking one. "Did I tell you what my grandma told me about my mom today?"

"No," Alyssa said brining up her hand to push her bangs off her forehead. "You only told me that she attacked my mother, which was funny enough"

He laughed. "Well…eh…she told me my mother got married a few years back, and it appears now that I have a step-dad and a little half brother and sister"

His wife's grin dropped into a serious flat expression. "Are you serious?"

"Why would I lie about something like that? Of course I serious" Johnny said raising and eyebrow.

Alyssa walked forward and hugged her husband wrapping her arms around his broad torso. "Well are you happy? Sad? Shocked?"

"Surprised is more like it," Johnny said dryly looking down at her. "I mean I really wouldn't expect her to live alone and only think about me and my dad, but now that I'm facing it head on, it's shocking and rather nerve wrenching to even think about meeting them"

She frowned at him. "And why is that exactly?"

"Well think about it, how is she going to explain me to her family? That I was a love child that she had when she was a teenager?" Johnny grinned

Alyssa then smiled at him and poked him on the chest. "Well '_Mr. I'm the only lovechild_' what do you think I am?"

Their conversation was halted by the sound of knocking at the door, and the sound of their son shouting with excitement with the knowledge that he would soon be eating. Alyssa smiled up at her husband and winked at him mischievously. "We'll finish this conversation later"

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X

She felt like she was a fish out of water being the only person, who dressed formally for the dinner, she looked over to Jake who was holding their youngest daughter Rachel in his arms. He was dressed in a simple black shirt, while she was dressed in a long cocktail dress and high-heels, she felt stupid for not changing, but she dropped those thoughts when the door to her daughter and son-in-law's apartment opened. DJ who was in her arms, smiled at the sight of his big sister and literally leaped out his mother's arms and fell into Alyssa's awaiting ones.

"Sis'ta," DJ exclaimed. "I missed you…"

Alyssa smile brightly at him and hugged him tightly. "I missed you too buddy"

Then she looked over to her father who was holding two year old Rachel Long, her sister in his arms. Her tiny hands were clasped around Jake's neck as if she was holding on for dear life, she was a nervous girl, even around her own family. "How are you doing Rach, are you having a good day?"

Rose almost snorted when she saw her youngest daughter – who in contrast in too Alyssa, looked a lot like her father, she had the black hair and the big brown eyes – shook her head and smiled meekly at Alyssa. When Rose opened her mouth to speak, she felt her husband's elbow nudge her in the side, then she saw what he what he was looking at. Johnny, who was standing back in the Apartment with his eyes glued on her. Rose looked over at Jake and winked, then when Alyssa set DJ down and led them into the Apartment, Rose leaned up into Jake's ear and before she spoke she blew into it playfully. "I'm gonna have a little fun, so If you get mad, get over it"

When they walked further in the apartment, Rose smiled at Johnny who was looking at her with his hands deep in his pockets. He narrowed his eyes "Uh…you look great…but why so formal?"

She put her hands at her sides and winked at him. "Why thank you Johnny, I did it for you, because well…Alyssa and I came to an understanding, she's agreed to step aside…"

With that she broke into a run and jumped onto him wrapping her arms around his neck and straddling him. "You shall be mine!"

And before it could progress any further, she broke into a laugh and lowered herself off of her son-in-law. She lightly pushed and bit her lip to stop from laughing. Johnny was blushing profusely, and he was starting to cower when he saw Jake walking up behind his wife with a stone cold glare on his face. To break the tension, Johnny feigned laughter. "That was funny…"

"I know," Jake said loudly as he let his daughter down. "And just for future reference, it's never gonna happen between you two…"

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X

He should have turned his cell phone off when he walked into his daughter's apartment, but he hadn't and he was forced to excuse himself and answer it. Walking into the living room away from the multiple conversations going on the dining room, he pulled it out of his pocket and looked at the incoming call. He narrowed his eyes when he saw that the call was private, he didn't like answering those calls mostly because of his paranoia. Jake did remember how the Huntsclan had tracked his wife all those years ago, and he didn't want the remnant of the clan to the do the same thing. Pressing the button on the phone, he held the receiver and scowled for a moment. "Hello?"

"Jake" A female voice answered, the voice sounded scared, and nervous.

The corners of his lips twisted into a frown. "Yes, who is this?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you, but we have a problem and you're the only one I knew who to contact, The Dark… awake…coming…family…" The voice hissed out, it must have been the reception of the phone, but he began to piece the puzzle together in his head.

That frightened him, he cleared his throat. "Haley?"

"Yes," She whispered. "I'm sorry for the reception, but I'm in the airport right now and I kind of want to keep this conversation between us…I had to leave China, because the Dark Dragon is awake, and he is coming for us, all who share our blood…he wants revenge…"

Jake shook his head and his eyes opened. "How is this possible at all? We destroyed him…"

"I know that, and do you honestly think that I would have this be our first conversation in fifteen years if it weren't serious," Haley snapped. "He is coming for us Jake, I know that we should have a decent conversation, but this needs to be handled before the family moment"

She was right, and besides he was too stunned to even feel sentimental, he brought his hand up and scratched the back of his head. "Uh…where are you at?"

"JFK," She said as the reception of the phone call cleared up. "Can you come and pick me up?"

Jake's voice stuttered. "Y-Yea, what terminal…?"

"Terminal four, I'll be waiting outside…"

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X

AN:/ Well what did you think, leave a review and tell me please. And just so you know, the reunion between Erin and Johnny will take place in the next chapter, and I know that the Dark Dragon might get a little repetitive, but he's my second favorite villain, and I want him as the main villain in the story. Anyway leave a review!


	4. Arrivals and Pregnancy Tests

**Chapter 3**

Haley Long wanted nothing more than to get the hell out of the Airport and catch up on her sleep, she had spent most of the day on Airplanes and she guessed she could have sleeping on the plane ride, but she was too shell shocked and frightened of what she had learned. The Dark Dragon had escaped the prison that the Dragon Council had put him in and he was now coming for every member of her family. That in turn caused her to call and talk to her brother for the first time in over fifteen years, and it had been a short conversation and she had just decided to get to the point and not waist there time with the family moment. He needed to be warned.

And that's why she had decided to come back to this country and back to this part of her life, the greatest threat to all things magical was now threatening her family solely and that called for her attention just as it did her brothers. She hadn't told him this, but before she had left for the United States, she had paid a visit to the Isle of Draco and discovered something that had saddened her indeed. Haley had expected to see her Grandfather, but she learned that he had died three years prior. That had made her feel guilty about running away.

But what was she supposed to do? The Magical World had destroyed her family, her father had left her mother because of the family heritage. That had made her not to want anything to do with the Dragons or Magic, and she fully intended on keeping that in her mind, but this, this was too important to just breeze off. And now all of these thoughts and decisions brought her back to New York. Standing outside of Terminal four, she eyed the street that was in front of the terminal itself and she groaned in frustration when she realized that her brother was more than likely late, as he always was. She set her suitcase down and put her hands on her hips, she huffed in anger and tapped her foot impatiently.

*** * * * * ***

She wondered why he had left and only told her that he needed to pick someone up from the airport, it was rude and unexpected. After the dinner, DJ, Rachel, Brian and their parents had decided to relax in the living room, it was a great time to watch the children interact, for some reason the three found it more fascinating than talking. Rose finally looked over at her son-in-law and smiled. "Do you think you can watch these kids while, she and I go talk?"

"I'd be more than happy to," Johnny replied. "Just as long as you don't jump on me again"

Rose looked to her daughter who had an amused look on her face and then back to Johnny who was blushing fiercely. "I'll try to control myself around you handsome"

Both Alyssa and Rose laughed loudly at this, and got up from the couch, they had something to talk about. Or at least Rose had something to talk about with her daughter. They walked out of the living room and quickly made their way to the kitchen, they needed the privacy for this subject and who know what would be said in a mother and daughter gap fest anyway. As they walked into the neatly cleaned kitchen, Rose rubbed her hands together and looked down at her feet as if she was ashamed about what she was going to say. "Honey, do you want to hear this?"

"Well judging by the fact that I don't know what where talking about," Alyssa smiled mockingly at the woman that had given her life. "I would like to hear whatever it is that is bothering you"

She smiled and crossed her arms around her chest. "Ok, do you remember when you were pregnant with Jack a year ago, remember how your whole body seemed to grow bigger"

Alyssa gave her mother a dry look. "Parts of it, I remember half the clothes I had didn't fit, are you about to tell me that I'm going to have _another_ baby sister or brother?"

"I don't know," Rose said. "But when I was putting _this_ number on earlier, it was really right but I squeezed into it, and this wasn't the first time, everything on me has been getting tighter"

The younger woman needed to sit down; she walked forward and sat down at the kitchen table, followed by her mother who took a seat next to her. Alyssa, who was very tired from all the cooking that she had done, buried her face in her hands and sighed. "Mom, in this reporter's opinion you're knocked up, _again _and I recommend that you see a doctor or something…"

Rose fiddled with her hands nervously. "I can't believe this, I mean I don't know that I am pregnant, but if I am do you think something's wrong with me? I mean I just had the twins"

"Maybe its daddy" Alyssa offered with an amused snicker.

She nodded. "Maybe so, but the reason I told you is, do you think I can take the test right now?"

"I don't know if I've got any tests," Alyssa said. "I can go look if you want me to?"

Rose nodded and swallowed the lump in her throat, she couldn't believe that her daughter had just completely and totally convinced her that she was indeed pregnant with her sixth child. Six Kids the number almost sent her into shock, and she found it almost hard to believe herself that four years ago she thought that Alyssa would be her one and only child, but fertility and animalistic sex with her Husband had led to four more. And at this point she wholeheartedly believed that five was going to turn into six, and felt scared for the first time in a long time.

*** * * * * ***

Jake knew that she would be angry with him, but he didn't care, he was not going to get a speeding ticket all because his sister was impatient. He couldn't believe that she had called him after all of this time, and he was further curious to know how she had gotten his phone number, his private cell number for that matter. Gripping the steering wheel, he felt _himself_ growing impatient, he wanted to see his sister right now and discuss what she had told him over the phone. The Dark Dragon, just the name brought back horrible memories to him. All of the broken bones and concussions, not to mention those damn Shadow Demons, it made him shake.

That evil creature was now targeting his family, and if he knew the Dark Dragon's patterns, which he did, then killing all of his family would be his first priority. Jake would end up dead before that happened, and it pained him to think that he would have to die to save his family and the world for that matter, but if he had to he would. Now he began to think how he would hide his family while he fought the Dark Dragon, he would have to hide his four youngest children and grandchildren and that would require someone to watch them. Rose was the first person that came into mind, but if he knew her and she would want to fight with him, Alyssa was the American Dragon so she would have to fight, he assumed that Haley was going to help him, so that left his son-in-law. He suddenly pitied Johnny, but someone had to do it.

As he drove onto the loop that went through JFK's Terminals, he looked up at the brightly illuminated signs that marked the location of the terminals and before he knew it, he was at Terminal Four, and almost immediately his eyes locked onto Haley.

*** * * * * ***

She had waited like this five other times in her life, and she should have expected the long anticipating wait but she didn't and it was the longest three minutes that she had ever been through in her entire life. Another child, if she was pregnant, than she didn't know what she was going to do, she wanted another girl but she could have another boy along with her eldest son and twin boys. Fiddling her hands, she looked over to her daughter who was with her in the bathroom, the three minutes was almost up and she wanted nothing more than to know.

"Stop pacing Mom, I'm getting dizzy" Alyssa said watching her mother pace the length of the clean almost sterile looking bathroom that she spent days cleaning up.

Rose scowled at her daughter. "Do you remember what I'm like when I'm pregnant?"

"I can ask the same question," She retorted. "We're the same; you are my mother after all"

She snorted. "Good point, but I can pace when it comes to this, because it affects all of our lives and I swear to god that it is the last one, I promise honey…"

"That's a good promise to keep," Alyssa nodded. "But are you sure that you can keep it?"

"To be honest, no, if I don't get my tubes tied anyway," Rose shrugged. "At this rate I'm bound at be a mother of at least ten by the time I turn forty, do you know how scary that is to me?"

Alyssa fixed her mother with a dry glare. "What part, ten kids or turning forty?"

"I guess both," She chuckled and then she shook herself back into frenzy momentarily losing herself in the conversation with Alyssa. "It's time"

The younger woman walked forward and looked down at the pregnancy test that was now lying on the bathroom counter, her dark eyes looked down at the strip and then she looked over to Rose who had her back turned to Alyssa. "Mom do you want me to read it?"

"Yea go ahead" Rose said dismissively.

Alyssa grabbed the box that was discarded not far from the test strip itself and eyed the instructions, she looked at the box and then the strip and then she took in a deep sigh. She didn't know if her mother really was ready to hear the result of the test at the moment, but she was going to tell her. She deserved to know anyway.

"Well…eh…how can I say this exactly?" Alyssa said with a hint of laughter.

*** * * * ***

_AN:/ Well readers out there this is what we call a cliffhanger, and I know that I promised you that Johnny would meet his mother in this chapter and I had written up a longer chapter that included that scene but I decided to split the chapter in two. For two reasons, to keep the mild interest with the story up, and I want the next chapter devoted to Haley and Jake and to Johnny, Rose and Erin completely. So forgive me for reneging, but that's the way I wanted to do this. So my vacation is almost done I go back to work on Monday and the best projection that I can give you for the next update is Friday, maybe Thursday. All I can say is please forgiveness for not living up to what I said, and leave a review telling me what you think.  
_


	5. Revelations

Chapter 4

Oh he didn't need this right now, the Dark Dragon, really? He had a family now and just the thought of him returning and wreaking havoc on the Earth made him want to hide his kids in some safe place. None existed however, that 'person' if he could be called that, could go anywhere he pleased and didn't really care if the Humans discovered the magical world's existence. That fact alone made it very hard to fight him and defeat him, and the times that he was fought, every human who saw him had to be put under surveillance and their memories of the Dark Dragon wiped. And the Dragon Council just couldn't do that anymore, they didn't have the manpower to do it and still hunt for the Dark Dragon, this was just getting more complicated as he thought about it. And now Haley, his sister whom he hadn't seen in almost two decades had suddenly called him and told him this horrible news. It made him wonder how she even got a hold of him anyway, she lived in China, hadn't seen him in almost twenty years and yet she called him as if they hadn't spent a minute apart.

Jake would have to forget all of that now, or at least for the time being, he needed all of the information he could get out of his sister. He parked, and grabbed his cell phone that was lying on the console, opening it he dialed the number of his daughter Alyssa, she needed to be told. She needed to get a hold of Fu Dog and have him open a portal to the Isle of Draco. The Council needed to be informed of this personally and they wouldn't believe anyone else but him. And his word went very far within the governing body of the dragons.

He cursed under his breath as it went to her voicemail '_What the hell could she possibly be doing right now_!' he thought angrily. Clearing his throat he spoke closely into the phone, "Alyssa, I need you to get a hold of Fu, tell him to meet us back at your mother and I's apartment, we need to talk about something," and then he shut the phone so forcefully he thought he had broken it.

A tapping on the passenger side window made him shoot his head to the right, he had forgotten that he was here to pick up Haley. She frowned at him, and it turned into a neutral stare as he rolled the window down. "I expected nothing but punctually from you Jake, now are you gonna' let me in the damn car?"

"Hello to you too," Jake smiled. "Put your bag in the back seat"

After hearing the click of the back passenger seat door open, Haley opened it and slid her bag onto the seat. She smiled when her bag moved a car seat that looked as if it was made for a set of twins, shaking her head she shut the door behind her and opened the passenger seat. "Did you go and have more kids?"

"I ended up having another daughter and three sons" Jake said putting the car in drive and quickly merging back onto the road. He didn't know why this conversation seemed so natural, he expected this moment to be awkward.

Haley fixed her eyes on him "Five Kids, all of them with Rose?"

"How did you know?" Jake asked smiling.

She grinned. "I had a feeling, so I'm assuming you're married to her?"

Jake nodded again knowing what was coming next, a critiqued compilation of all of things in his life. He laughed when he saw her opening her mouth and looking around to judge the car. "Married, five kids, and you're driving an LS Mercedes?"

"Not to mention the fact that one of my kids, Alyssa, has two of her own" He supplied.

Her eyes widened. "And a Grandpa as well, huh I leave for a few years and the whole place goes insane, crazy isn't it? Speaking of Alyssa? How is she? Still pooping her diapers"

That was an attempt to be funny, and it worked. Laughing, he quickly glanced over to his passenger and rolled his eyes at Haley. She had grown, she was not as tall as he was, but still she was rather tall, she looked a lot like their mother and a part of him was saddened by that, but he didn't let that show. "Uh, she grew out of that phase two years after you left"

"Ah so she's a big girl, kids of her own," Haley stopped for a moment. "Man I feel old"

Jake was curious about something. "What about you? How have things been for you?"

He could tell by her reaction that she was hesitating to say something to him, but he was breaking through whatever was causing that hesitation and he knew she was going to elaborate any moment now. "Well you bring up an interesting subject, my husband died four years ago, and I did have one son, lives with his grandparents, he hates me, won't talk to me"

"And why is that?" Jake asked, wondering why his 'newly found' nephew would hate his mother.

Haley's mouth opened. "He's sixteen, and I told him about our family background after his dad died, and for some reason he hated that I kept that a secret from him and his father…"

"Sound familiar?" He asked remembering that entire escapade all those years ago.

She nodded. "I think about it all of the time, and compare everything that happened then with us and with me and my son, it's rather depressing to just sit and think about it"

"It's that way with me too, but in case you're wondering I never forgave Dad for walking out on us, and I grew to just hate him after Mom die-"He stopped realizing what he had just said.

And with that, Haley's mouth gaped.

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X

She was really going to kill Alyssa if she didn't tell her the damn answer now, was she pregnant or wasn't she, that's all she wanted. To tell the truth, she didn't know how she would react if she actually was, of course she was be ecstatic. But if she wasn't, then she thought she would be relieved or disappointed. Even thought it had been a few hours since she had come to this conclusion on her own, she had gotten used to it. If she had another kid, she would be a mother to him or her like she had been to other five she had, but to quell her fear she needed to know now!

"Honey," Rose said turned around and putting her hands on her hips. "If you don't tell Mommy now, she's gonna take the heel of her shoe and ram it through your skull"

That made Alyssa laugh, but Rose could detect a hint of sadness in her voice. "Uh, Mom, I would take another test again, but this says that you are…not pregnant, and I say again you should go to the doctor and find out for sure…"

Rose let out a sad laugh, it was mirthless, utterly barren of any good feeling. And then she smiled trying to put on a good face, she was disappointed. Then she did something that Alyssa had never seen her mother door in all of the time that she had known her, she began to cry. Alyssa walked forward and hugged her mother tightly.

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X

She had given Johnny the pass code to her voicemail in the case of something like this, and he had never intended to violate her privacy like that. But it was late, and he thought it was unusual for someone to be calling this late. He pressed the phone up to his ear tightly and listened. After the message from his father in law was finished, he pressed the end button several times and then held the phone in his hand lightly. Then he shrugged, it must be very important, and besides if it was so important to have that strange talking dog involved then he would relay the message.

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X

AN:/ Sorry for the long wait, real life got in the way, long story (I know you probably don't care) but please don't ask. I'm sorry to disappoint you, Rose isn't pregnant (For now) and yes I will dive deeper into Haley's life later in the story. And a short note: I ignored Fu in the last story, so he'll play a role in this story. As for what's up in the next chapter, They all gather at Rose and Jake's to discuss this and this will begin the action part of the story. Rose, Alyssa and Johnny (Not to mention the kids) get to know Haley better. And the chapter will end with a cliff hanger (Just letting you know, be prepared) between none other than Johnny and his mother. Leave reviews THEY ARE GREAT.


	6. Mrs Erin Hutchinson Harrison

The excuse that he had given Erin would buy him a few hours at most, and it was already well into eleven at night and he knew he would have at least a few hours before she became worried. And in that time, he needed to do something that had been on his mind all week, a few days before that he had been going through his financial records and he had discovered that someone had been withdrawing cash from his banking accounts. He had followed the trail, and he discovered that it was his wife had been doing it. From that point he discovered several money orders written out to a storage company. And tonight he was going to find out what she was storing and why it was worth a thousand dollars to store it when they had an attic.

Mark Harrison didn't know why his wife was so damn clever, she was very smart and covered her tracks well, and he would have never have caught it if it weren't for records. He needed to find what it was she was storing, confront her about it, and if possible cancel the lease on the storage locker and move it into the house. It surprised him to find that the storage locker was in actually in the lower east side of Manhattan and in a nice part of town, and it really didn't look all that bad as far as storage facilities went.

"Hello," Mark said standing at the desk in the lobby of the lone building of the facility. "Can I get some help?"

There was a door on the other side of the desk, and when no one answered him. Mark shook his head in irritation and ran his hand through his head of brown slightly graying hair, and then he spotted a gold bell sitting on the desk. Almost slamming his hand down on the bell, he rang it several times and with his other hand he pounded on the surface of the desk. "Is anyone working," He asked loudly. "Or awake?"

And at last he got what he wanted, the door opened on the other side of the desk. A medium sized, portly man with long brown hair eyed him angrily. Indeed he looked as if he had been sleeping. "Sir, I don't mean to be rude, but do you have any idea what time it is? I mean you walk in here at eleven thirty making racket…"

"I need access to my storage locker, isn't that what you do here?" Mark said almost growling.

The man just narrowed his eyes at him. "You have a point sir, so can I have the lease holder's name? Proof of identity and the clearance card that is given whenever a locker is leased, so can I have it so I can go?"

"Well actually that poses a problem," Mark said. "My wife holds the lease and it is in her name, and long story short she doesn't know that I even know about this locker, so can you help me out, so I can go home?"

A grin came from the man across the desk. "That's a big problem sir, I can't open the locker without her permission, but she might have put you as a co-dependant on the locker, so can I have your wife's name?"

"Erin Harrison" Mark said not wanting to believe that she would find out about all of this.

The storage attendant was already at his computer, Mark could hear he typing on the key board. "Well I don't have anyone with that particular last name in the database, but I have an Erin Hutchison"

That was strange, he knew that was his wife's maiden name, but he wondered why she would use it in this situation. Well that only went to prove that she had gone to great lengths to keep this a secret. "Would you believe me that, the name you just said is my wife's maiden name?"

"I'm inclined to believe you sir, but I have no proof, and that leaves me with one option I have to get confirmation from her," The man said picking up the phone. "I have a cell phone number here, when I call it and ask if this is all true and that this woman is your wife, I can open it for you…"

Mark did not need this today. "Well, can you at least approach it in a different way, I really don't want her to know that she knows that I even have discovered it, so please if you could…"

"Fine, I'll tell her…ehh…my billing and storage records got erased and I need to redo them" The attendant said.

"My name's Mark Harrison by the way" Mark added in.

The attendant looked at him and narrowed his eyes. "Thanks for the warning"

**.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X**

"Hello?" Erin said slightly surprised by the fact that the only calls she got on this phone were from her mother when she needed to get a hold of this quickly, and her storage company.

She recognized the voice of the storage attendant on the other line, and she had grown fond of the man. He was very nice the very few times that she had met him. "Mrs. Hutchinson, I'm Jerry Palmer from your Storage Locker company, and we had a power failure earlier this morning that shorted out our servers and we lost all of our records."

Oh how stupid he thought she was, he was lying. "Well Mr. Palmer, I'd be happy to give you my records, if you can explain how you remembered knew my number and name?"

"It's simple ma'am," Jerry responded. "We do keep a file of phone numbers and names in the event of exactly this happening, we know the names and numbers, is that enough?"

If he was lying, then he was good, if he was not, she still didn't believe him, she sighed and ran her fingers through her long onyx locks. "I suppose that's enough, so what do you want from me exactly?"

"Name, address, social security number and your spouse's name" Jerry finished quickly.

Erin sighed and rolled her eyes. "Erin Hutchison, 324 seventy two street Brooklyn New York, 5452-463-7496, and I would prefer it if my Husband's name was not on the record…"

She didn't want him there, in that storage locker she held all of her possessions from a life time ago, from when she was in the Huntsclan. And if he found out about it, it would be very bad. "I am so sorry ma'am, but with Federal Law, I cannot do that anymore for police use, I do need to have his name and that is it…"

'_Damit_' she cursed in her head. "Ok then, his name is…Mark Harrison…"

"All right ma'am," Jerry said. "I'm sorry I took your time, I do have everything caught up now"

Without even bothering to say goodbye, she ended the phone call, fiddling with the phone in her hand she began to stare at the wall. And then a thought occurred to her. '_Oh no_…'

**X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X**

When the attendant -whose name was apparently 'Jerry' Mark observed- set the phone back down on the receiver he looked up at him. "Well, Mr. Harrison, you check out, and for safe measure, can I see your license and then I will open the locker and we can all go on our merry way…"

Pulling his wallet out, he opened it and quickly pulled his license out and held it rather close to Jerry's face. And then he quickly put it back into his wallet and slipped it into his back pocket. "Can you open the damn locker now?"

The man sunk down behind the desk and Mark heard him flipping some sort of switch. "I just opened the locker, its number C18"

**X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X**

He had some troubling finding the locker, but he did find it eventually and what he did find surprised him immensely. The locker was rectangular, and on all of the walls, silver boxes were stacked up to the ceiling and he was surprised of how neat it really was. He walked into the locker and as soon as he walked into the locker, he jumped when the doors behind him shut automatically. "What the hell is this place?" He whispered to himself.

With the doors shutting, a bank of lights snapped on. Mark looked in surprise, he hadn't seen the damn lights when he had come in, and then he heard a tumbling noise come from the door. He turned around and large, metallic bars where moving across the door and now three large bars now locked him in the damn locker. "Mistress Hutchison welcome back," A computerized voice came from wherever in locker. "Security protocol's are in place, you are now secured and free to do whatever you wish, an alert will be issued at intruders…"

"Thank you," Mark said warily with wide eyes. "Strange Computer Women…?"

"You are most welcome" The voice responded.

'How the hell did she get the money to pay for all of this?' Mark thought walking forward.

He had no choice but to start looking in all of the boxes, walking forward to the first stack, he neatly pulled the top box down and set it on the floor. Sitting down with it in his lap, he opened it, he ripped the top of the box open and threw the cardboard to the side. And what he saw inside surprised him. A tan folder was in it, and when he took the folder out of the box. He dropped it, after what he saw inside. Inside of the box was a rather large gun.

From every sight he had seen, this had to be the oddest. "Uhh…computer…who does this weapon belong too?"

"The Desert Eagle Mark XIX, Huntsclan registry number 894393, currently belongs with Hunter Erin Hutchison, registry profile, female, registry code 7-4-Alpha-9" The computer recited flatly.

He shook his head in amazement, this could not possibly be his wife, his Erin? Some sort of secret agent? Or…hunter or whatever it was. "…identify this ehhh…Huntsclan?"

"Warning, Intruder alert, Warning, Intruder Alert War-"The Computers voice suddenly died back down.

Mark looked at the door and the bars that had trapped him into this strange 'storage locker' began to retract, when they went back into the walls of the locker, he heard keys jingling from outside and when the door opened. He gulped, Erin, his wife, stood in the doorway.

"Computer, deactivate Intruder Alert and shut yourself down" Erin spoke not taking her eyes off of her husband who was sitting in the middle of the locker clutching her most prized and favorite gun from her days in the Huntsclan.

**X.X.X.X.X.X.X**

"Uh…honey care to explain what this place is?" Mark said as he watched his wife walk into the bunker and stood directly in front of him with her arms crossed around her chest. While he noticed that she was giving him that 'This better not be what it looks like' look, he also noticed that the same process that happened when he came into the bunker happened again when Erin stepped in. It amazed her that she didn't even flinch.

She was wearing a pair of black matching sweats, and her hair was pulled into a tight bun on her head. It was as if she had crawled out of bed and came down here. "I had a feeling when Jerry called me that you might be down here, so you're here and what do you think of this?"

"You didn't answer my question Erin, what the hell is this place?" Mark said not even realizing that he was still holding the large gun.

With that Erin began to pace back and forth. "This is where I keep my things from my past…things I didn't want you or the kids to know about…but I suppose I need too"

"Damn right! Now that I know about this…what are you going to do? Kill me?" Mark supposed not knowing what to expect from his wife now.

Erin sighed and locked her green eyes on his dark ones. "Well you are the one holding the Eagle XIX, by the way things are looking you could kill me at any instant…"

"I have a feeling I wouldn't be able too though?" Mark remarked dryly.

She actually laughed at this and smiled. "Well no, one of two things will happen, if you even move that hand that the gun is in, I will kick it out of your hand and put you in a choke hold, or the computer that you talked too will turn on and shot you with the automated weapons that are located within this locker, but it's your choice, lower the gun Mark"

Mark looked at her just so shocked for a moment and then he sat the gun at his side. "Ok, explain something for me please, what in the hell are you? FBI? CIA? Special Opps?"

"Oh please you insult me by even saying that," Erin smiled. "No, dear I- well I _belonged _with an organization that's goals were the purification of the world as a whole, I left that organization a very long time ago because I had a conscious, and of something else?"

She shook his head incredulously at her. "Wait! I insult you, Is this the Huntsclan that computer was telling me about? So you hunt things? What things did you hunt? And how the hell did you get all of these things?"

"Number One, you are correct I was a member of the Huntsclan, Number Two, I hunted… and stick with me here, Magical Creatures, Number Three, I leased this storage locker, and then it took me months to get all of the equipment in here and install security measures, the computer, the steel bars on the door, the automated weapons I told you about, and there is a lot more that I have to tell you" She spoke with a casual ease that scared him.

Mark thought he was hallucinating or going insane. "Erin, Magical Creatures? And all of this, I mean what the hell is It?"

"I already told you, when I left the Huntsclan I took all of the weapons they gave me, I took the resources they gave me and I hid it here," Erin said with a stern voice. "Let me put it into perspective for you, that gun you were holding, killed a giant, yes a giant, it also killed a lot of creatures that are beyond your comprehension, and it was and is still my favorite gun"

He could tell that she was telling the truth, it was just the way that he looked at her, he had grew to know that look over the years. Looking down at the box in front of him, and the folder at the side, he eyed it a moment longer and then looked up at her. "What is in that?"

Erin looked at the folder and she scowled. "Oh my you had to pick the one box that I had hesitated to even look at for nineteen straight years…how about you look at it yourself?"

Picking up the folder that was on the right side of the box, he opened it up and inside he saw what looked like a New York Birth Certificate, A social security card and a picture of Erin clutching an infant with a man he didn't even know in the background. And then he looked more closely at the birth certificate, he worked as a paralegal in college and he knew how to connect the dots. Then he let the paper fall from his hands. "I…I can see why you didn't want me too even be here now…"

He looked up at her, and he now saw tears running from her eyes. "The Certificate, it's a copy as is the social security card, they belong to my first child that I had, twenty years before I had even meet you, and I suppose it's good that you learn about him now…"

Mark could not believe this, and it would take him a good while for it too even hit him, he was not mad, no that wasn't the feeling he had, he was just shocked. "I can't believe this"

"I know, and what makes it even harder is that I have not seen him since he was eight months old," Erin looked down. "He is one of the main reasons that I left the Huntsclan, when I had him I wanted to leave to give him a better life, but his father would have killed me and taken my son away from me forcibly, so I had no choice but to leave, it is one of the hardest and painful things that I have ever been through, other than lying about it all…"

Now he was sad for his wife, it must have been really hard and he could imagine that if his children were taken from he would feel the same way. "Well...do you know what happened to him after you left him with his father…?"

"Just so we are on the same page, his father's name was Paul Sindacco, the first guy that I really ever fell in love with," Erin paused for a moment. "But that fell through as soon as I found out what sort of a person he was, and up until this morning, no I didn't know what happened too him, he and an old friend of mine, found my mother and asked her about me?"

He narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean? Y-Your mother is one of these Hunters too?"

That was an ironic statement at best. "Oh yea…A very smart and powerful one, and she left before I did and he both pledged to keep each other safe, if the Huntsclan ever went looking for one of us, we both decided that he would fight until we killed them or they killed us…"

"Wow," Mark chuckled. "And your son…this…Johnny came with one of your friends from?"

Erin smiled. "She was my best friend in fact, and just in case you're wondering, she is one of these hunters as well, in fact some in the clan said that she perhaps was the best, other than the Huntsman, our leader, I learned that her daughter married Johnny…"

"What a strange coincidence" Mark said smiling up at her.

"I know," She smiled lightly. "My mother gave Johnny and my friend our address, and I don't know when they'll chose to come and visit me, but they are, so how do you feel about that?"

"I need to admit I'm a little overwhelmed, but frankly I can't wait" Mark said grinning at her.

She sighed and laughed at him. "Ah that's a relief…"

Now an awkward silence filled the room, and he needed to break the tension. "Ok, so…is there anything else I should know about…?"

He looked at her for a moment before realizing that she had her thinking face on, he would have to wait for a few seconds before he even got an answer. "Well now that you mention it you know my dresser?" Erin asked with a smirk.

Mark laughed. "You mean the one that is totally unnecessary when we have a larger one that we can both share?"

Erin nodded. "It's covering a compartment that I put in the floor and in that compartment is fifty thousand dollars in cash, a passport, a shotgun and a pistol that is very similar to the one that you were holding equipped with a silencer, do you want to know why I put that there?"

"Well I'm assuming, it was either because you wanted a stash in case you felt you needed to leave," Mark said. "Or it was something to defend yourself if this …Huntsclan ever came looking for you and found you, now I want to know how you got it in, not why?"

She walked forward, past Mark to the back of the Storage locker and then she stood in front of mat that blended in with the color of the floor. Sinking down to her haunches, she gripped it and moved it off of its position. And that exposed a handle, she turned and looked back at her Husband, she tried to study his face, but all she could read was surprise. Taking a deep breath in, she gripped the handle and pulled. Tossing the cover on top of the displaced mat, she reached down and gripped the handle of a case that was in the compartment. Bringing it up to rest on the surface of the locker, she tossed it in the direction of Mark. "Open it" She ordered.

Pulling it up, he rested it in his lap. Taking his time unbuckling the case he opened it and gasped.

"H-How much is that Erin?" Mark asked amazed at the sight of the case stacked with money.

Erin was already putting the top back onto the compartment and sliding the mat back on top of the pace where it was, she shut her eyes for a moment and turned. "Mark, I don't want you to get in over your head, and if you can't handle this secret then I want you to take that money and the kids and get as far away from me as possible, and there's a quarter million in that case"

He almost had a stroke. "I don't want to leave you, I admit I have a hard time believing this, but now I do believe you and I want to stick by you. I love you Erin and I'll never leave you…"

"Are you sure?" Erin asked quietly almost not wanting to hear the answer.

"Of course I'm sure," Mark said. "You are the only one for me"

**X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X**

**AN: I've decided to split the chapter I had written up into two parts, this is the first part, and as you can see it focuses on Erin and Mark and what happens when Mark finds out. Please Leave a Review and tell me what you think about it.**


	7. Unexpected Conversations and Appearances

Chapter 6

Jake and Haley didn't say a word to each other until they had almost reached Manhattan, and you have to understand with factors of traffic, and all of the other nonsense, that took more than an hour. And in that time Jake was flogging himself mentally for even saying that their mother had died, he hadn't really meant for it too come out but it did. Maybe it was because everything had been going so natural for them that it felt like old times and neither of them had been apart for this time. Yes, that's what he was sure it was, and he would have to think carefully before speaking.

"So," He heard Haley say. "How did it happen?"

Jake swallowed. "Lung Cancer, she started smoking after you left, all that had happened too her I guess pushed her into an outlet for her stress, I think she barely just held on after Dad left, and you were the final nail in her coffin…"

"Oh my god" Haley reached up and touched her forehead.

He shook his head not wanting to hear this. "Don't be hard on yourself, if it helps at all in the end she didn't blame you, in fact I think that she was…happy to die…"

"How can you say that," Haley said at a loud tone, not quite screaming. "She was our mother for god sakes! I cannot believe you just said that too me!"

That was it with this subject he was not going to have this conversation. "You weren't here, I watched her die for years and you didn't, now I don't want too talk about this anymore! Do you hear me Haley, I don't feel bad about anything I say about her or anything I did, if anyone should be feeling guilty and bad it should be you! You are no better than Dad, now I want you too shut up about this and don't say a damn thing!"

He did feel bad for saying that now, but Haley was now saying things that she knew nothing about. And it was all true, she wasn't there for their mom, with Dad and Haley out of the picture, only he and his Grandfather were there for her. And right now with this whole Dark Dragon situation he didn't need to drag personal feelings out into the open. The subject of his mother was perhaps the one thing that he didn't want to think about, and the only people that he had ever really talked about it openly with was Rose, Alyssa and Johnny. And for right now that would have to be the way it stayed.

"I have other questions Jake and you will answer them," Haley said with one of the strongest voices that he had ever heard from her. "In our fight against the Dark Dragon, and before you say anything you and I will be fighting with him, do we have any allies? Anything that we can throw at him that will give him a challenge…"

Jake shook his head not taking his eyes off of the road in front of him. "I've been out of the loop with the Council for a few years now, I still get briefed by our intelligence forces, but as far as I know, we have no one too help us against him…"

"What about the Huntsclan? I'm sure they would love to kill him" Haley said.

He actually snorted. "That will be a problem Haley, in case you haven't heard yet, we went to war with them and we actually captured the Huntsman, but he escaped stole the Diamond of Draco, and then we stepped up our plans from containment and imprisonment too extermination, after we killed the Huntsman and took the Diamond back, we spent three months going all over the world raiding Huntslairs and we took them out. So in essence we shot ourselves in the foot before we even knew it…"

"The survivors, we can use them, do we have them imprisoned, or under surveillance?" She asked almost desperately.

Jake shook his head with a light chuckle. "What I'm about to say doesn't leave us, you can tell no one about this, not Rose, Alyssa or anyone else, do you understand me Haley?"

"Ok" Haley asked warily narrowing her eyes.

He tapped the steering wheel, and then he reached over and muted the radio. And then he looked at Haley for a moment. "The war lasted a year and a half, and in that time, we took approximately twenty thousand prisoners and when the war was over, we were given orders by the Council to kill all of the survivors, to abridge this, we destroyed all of the bases, we killed every single Hunter we found and the thinking behind that was to eradicate everything that was apart and related with the Clan"

"You do realize of course that Rose was the Huntsgirl, and your kids and grandkids share that heritage, now I'm not going to shed a tear over the Clan, but- forget I said that, why was not Rose imprisoned," She asked thoroughly confused. "What happened?"

Jake sighed. "She was granted a full pardon by a complete accepting vote from the Council under the condition, that she support and fight for us, and give us all of the information that she knew, and she of course did that, the council gave a similar pardon with the same conditions to my son in law, he cooperated as well…"

"Do they know this?" Haley asked surprised that her brother could even lie to _Rose_.

He shook his head. "Neither of them do, I felt that if they knew that, then they would feel like they were still considered an enemy and I didn't want them to feel that way"

"Good thinking of you," Haley smiled still feeling wary of even talking with him. "But you know just as much as I do that people left the clan, you married one, I'm sure that there are more, can they help?"

Jake thought for a moment, he should really tell her this until he was sure, but not only did Haley need this but he needed it too to make himself feel better. "Perhaps, a few hours ago, Rose and my son in law went too his Grandmothers house, it's a complicated story and I'm sure you'll know the details in time, but his Grandmother is a very powerful Hunter, from what I'm told, and not only that but his mother is different can of worms…"

"Is this woman a Hunter too?" Haley asked actually curious about all of this.

"Yes, so my point is here Haley, I can only promise you Rose and my son in law," He said. "And in time I might be able to bring my son in law's Mother and Grandmother"

Now she had a better idea of what they could bring against the Dark Dragon. "Well, we may not have force in numbers, but we got him matched in skill, so suggestions?"

"Without those terribly fascinating shadow creatures or whatever the hell they are we outnumber him at least six to one," Jake said. "I can pretty much guarantee you that if you know about the Dark Dragon, which I'm still curious about how you know, then the Council will know and they will mobilize our Military, which is substantial…"

That assessment made her feel somewhat better. "How many can we send?"

"At my last briefing, our deployed Military counted at least thirty thousand, and we have more than a million in our reserves plus individual dragons from different world countries," Jake said. "So if we have to fight him, we will have numbers on our side"

Haley shook her head. "I am curious, how is it that we can conceal all of this and not attract the attention of the Humans, I mean we running our own sort of country…"

"In a sense we are," Jake looked over her and smiled. "Have you ever heard of a region called 'The Devils Sea' or what it is referred too here as the 'Dragons Triangle'?"

She smiled and wondered how her brother had gotten so smart. "Curious name"

"I know, and I'm sure that you know what the Diamond of Draco is?" Jake asked.

Haley looked at him dryly. "Of course I do, so I'm putting the pieces together here, so I'm assuming that the Diamond puts out the affect of the Triangle, so that takes care of the Humans that cross close, and it has some effect that makes us blind to the Humans, now I've only been the Isle of Draco itself, so what else is it hiding?"

"A mass of Islands," Jake said. "And our Military forces, they live there with there families, and lets just say that they prefer to do things in the only ways, so they've never really lived among Humans, so that's how we could hide our military…anything else?"

Haley nodded. "Yes there is"

"Then out with it? We are almost back…" Jake chuckled.

"How are we going to convince the Council that we may have to send forces onto mainland China or the United States?" Haley said.

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X

Rose was concerned now, it had been two hours since Jake had left to the airport and he should have been back. They had done what he asked, she, Alyssa and Johnny had brought the kids back to their apartment, and Alyssa had called Fu over here. Now they were waiting for him. Even though she was still disappointed about what had happened earlier, she needed to get over it, more pressing issues called for her attention. She now stood in the living room with her daughter, Johnny and the dog, all of them were now pacing. "I wonder what the hell is going on? He just had leave suddenly?"

"I know what going on" Fu said looking some what tired.

Rose narrowed her eyes. "You've known? All of this time, you've known and you haven't told us anything? I cannot believe you Fu…"

He put up his front paws in a mock surrender. "Easy, I just got a memo flash from the Isle of Draco, the Council has reason to believe that the _Dark Dragon_ has come back"

Alyssa now looked at him furiously. "That's impossible Fu"

"Well apparently it isn't, there just reports now, but right now the Council is convening if it should deploy the Military," Fu said. "And you have to wonder, if that is connected…"

Rose knew her Husband, and more than likely it was. She was just going to have to put away her worried and give him enough time to get here and tell them what going on. A thought occurred her thought, if anything involved the Dark Dragon then she would have to worry a lot more. For her children, her grandchildren, and for Jake, she at no point was worried about herself, she could handle herself and she could do it damn well.

Twenty minutes passed before anything changed, and they were still pacing around the living room waiting. And then the door to the apartment opened, and her husband walked in looking dead tired. "Sorry I'm so late getting here, I had to pick something up"

Rose put her hands on her hips and mock glared at him. "You could've called you worried me half to death you crazy son of a bitch, now tell me what happened…"

"I did call you," Jake looked behind her and so his daughter, Johnny and Fu. "And apparently you did what I asked, and judging by the look on Fu and Alyssa's face-…"

Now she really scowled. "Yes I know, _run, scurry, flee_, the Dark Dragon has returned too pillage burn and kill, and now you've brought some gift from above that will help"

Jake turned and looked to his side, someone walked up behind him with her arms crossed. She had a hard time placing this woman, but she looked awfully familiar, that face, and then it hit her. "_Haley_?"

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X

AN:/ Tell me what you think? Leave a Review.


	8. The Dragon Council

**Chapter 7**

**_Four Days after the death of Pro Tempore Lao Shi, Isle of Draco, State Funeral of Lao Shi _**

_Every Pro Tempore usually lived seventy years or so, it had been that way since the first Pro Tempore Janus. But Lao Shi was different, he had lived one hundred and two years and in that time he had changed the very face of the world. And those accomplishments had earned him the reputation of the best leader that the Dragon Council had seen in over two centuries, that was the widely held belief now that he was dead, and on the question of his successor, many looked to Jake Long. But somewhere in their minds they knew that he would never accept the position. "Jake are you ready?" _

_His wife Rose had stirred him out of his thoughts with her soft voice. "I really don't know if I am" _

"_I know that this is hard for you baby," Rose said walking up behind him and placing a gloved hand on his shoulder. "But you need to be out there, everyone is going to be looking at you, and wondering what you are going to do and what you are thinking and you need to be there" _

_Jake turned and looked at her. "Are you telling me that you want me to be Pro Tempore?" _

"_That's your choice" Rose responded quietly. _

_He smiled at her sadly, she had gotten dressed up and enduring wearing those tight black clothes to attend the Funeral Services for his Grandfather. "Did I forget to tell you that they offered me the job if I wanted it, because if I did I am sorry for not telling you, I just wanted to think about it for awhile?" _

"_And you're hesitating to accept?" She asked knowing where this was going. _

_Yes, and for an oblivious reason. "I would accept it, but I am thinking about you and our soon to be born Son, I don't want you to be unhappy and I have a feeling you wouldn't want to be a bureaucrat's wife"_

_Rose walked closer to him and put both of her hands on his chest. "As much as I really want to lie to you right now, I can honestly say, no I would not want to be a mindless drone of a woman" _

"_Exactly" He smiled at her noticing that the black really did take the attention away from her pregnant belly. _

_She nodded finally understanding the point of why he was sure of saying no to it. "Ok then, well in that case do you know who they'll want if you say no to the position, and will you be able to get along with this person?" _

"_Yes," Jake sighed. "And to answer you second question, no, I think they'll want to replace him with Edward Keeler, he's the Dragon assigned to Great Britain, I found out yesterday that my Grandfather has been grooming him to take his place in the event that I did not want to take the position, and I'm still trying to think why my Grandfather chose him, he knew that I really couldn't stand Keeler" _

_Rose laughed. "Assuming that I'm correct, it is in my oh so humble opinion, that your oh so humble late Grandfather wanted the last laugh, or if I am incorrect, he's trying to force you to get along with this Keeler" _

_He thought about that for a moment and the more he realized it the more he knew that Rose was correct on both counts. "I think he's trying to do both, so enough of this banter, let just go get this over with" _

"_You're the boss," Rose said shrugging. "Ok, Alyssa and Johnny are down at the platform where you'll be giving the eulogy, is that acceptable?" _

_Jake shook his head. "I thought Councilor Andam was doing it" _

"_No," Rose said. "He told me that he thought that you should do it and I agreed" _

_He let out a petulant whine which drew a glare from her. "Don't test me, I have six months until this kid is out of me, and in that time I expect you to be a good husband and do as I say, are we clear?" _

_Lowering his head, he put a mock sad frown on his face. "Yes dear" _

_Rose smiled, that's the way she wanted it and he would have to comply. _

**X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X**

**Isle of Draco, Dragon Council Underground Bunker, Situation Room 6:22 PM**

Every time he sat in this chair, he couldn't help but think that he wasn't as good as the man that he succeeded. Edward Keeler had been the Pro Tempore of the Dragon Council for nearly four years now and he still felt like an outsider, not many people liked him all that much. The Council, or most of it anyway despised him and he had made enemies of many in his military and intelligence community. But he has managed to consolidate his power and show his subordinates that he was in charge and his word was superseded all others.

But that still didn't help his feeling of insecurity. "Pro Tempore, we have some news about the Dark Dragon situation that you might want to hear, shall I tell you this now or later?"

That was his second in command, Councilor Nebroshka of Russia and Europe, if something ever happened to him he had made sure that she would become leader. "Report Councilor"

"Our scouts have arrived in Hong Kong and they are confirming a strange presence, they informed us that they felt like a dark spirit was clouding their minds or something like that, I as the rest of the Council can assure you that we have felt the same thing in his presence" She said reaching up and holding her forehead in shock, she was very scared for everyone at this time.

Keeler looked at her with a questioning glare. "You were present when the Council fought him at the Dragon Temple?"

"Yes, but at that time I was a deputy Dragon Councilor," She said looking to her left at Andam of Africa. "Councilor Andam conquers with me on this matter, we must deploy the armed forces"

The Pro Tempore drummed his fingers on the table for a moment, he was in a deep thought and that was evident for Council, so they remained silent. And then Keeler brought his hand up and ran it through his graying brown hair. "On the matter of bringing some people in who are more experienced with the Dark Dragon, such as former General Long and his wife and Fu Dog?"

"I also believe that it would be the most prudent course of action," Nebroshka responded. "But you must be aware sir that he will not accept this if he doesn't have the help of his daughter, and only _we _can suspend the activates of the American Dragon for this assignment"

Keeler nodded. "I want a flash memo sent out to all three of them, tell them I want them to come here immediately, on the matter of the American Dragon, I think we are in full agreement that all of her other duties are suspended for the time being and this one takes precedence"

"I propose that we also suspend most of our protocols for all of the Dragons living among the Humans," Andam spoke up next to her. "Save of course for the policy of keeping ourselves hidden at any cost, and not attacking or terrorizing innocent life, that sort of thing"

He nodded again, and then it did hit him that he was only the third Pro Tempore of the Council to do such a thing. But in all three of those cases, those rules had been suspended because of the Dark Dragon and every time casualties for the Dragons that followed the Council were very low, and he would simply have to learn from history. "Has the Diamond of Draco been secured?"

"It has been moved to its underground safe bunker," Nebroshka said. "We built both this Bunker and that one after the end of the war with the Huntsclan this is the first time that we have ever used it, would you like a security report on what we are doing to reinforce the bunker?"

He held up a hand in a dismissive gesture. "No, I'm sure your taking great lengths to protect it, I cannot image what would happen if the Dark Dragon got his hands on it, and with that thought I want you to double your efforts and increase the Bunkers security by at least thirty percent"

"Very well sir" She said, and with that task, that's all she found that she could say.

Keeler then stood up which caused all of the other Council members to join him at their feet, that was a show of respect. He knew that none of them really respected him, but they were also smart enough not to disrespect him to his face. "Inform me with the Long Family has received the Flash Memos, and I want a report from Grand General Iverson regarding the status of our military"

All of the Council bowed deeply to him. "Yes Pro Tempore," they recited automatically.

**X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X**

**Brooklyn New York, The Home of Mark Harrison and Erin Hutchison 1:34 AM **

"Well that should be the last of everything I've hidden in this house" Erin said as she joined her Husband on the couch, she had a set of three boxes on the living room table, they contained various things such as guns, cash, and other things that she would have needed to escape the Clan should they have assaulted her home in an attempt to find her and kill her for leaving.

Mark couldn't believe that she would take a risk of keeping a gun in the house with two children, he really didn't want to picture the sight of his son holding one of these guns. He watched as Erin picked on of the boxes up from the table and set it in her lap, taking the lid off of the box, she threw it onto the floor and the reached into the box and pulled out a medium sized Pistol.

"You do remember the gun you found back in the storage locker?" Erin asked looking at Mark and back to the gun, the look on her face was that of recalling a very old and somewhat fond memory.

He nodded. "That looks like it, is it like a smaller version of it or something?"

"Yea, it's the Desert Eagle VII, a little smaller than the XIX but it can still do a lot of damage," Erin said. "My friend Rose, who is now my son's mother in law, she always liked using the Berretta line of guns, but then again she always had to kill bigger and very more dangerous things than I did"

As she was grasping the gun, he noticed the tattoo of the Dragon on her wrist, she had told him how she had gotten in. Apparently it was the result of a drunken stupor in her late teens, but with everything that he had learned about her in the past hour he knew that story was either a fabrication or a half truth. He reached forward and lightly touched the mark. "You know I always thought that tattoo of yours was very sexy, but is it a really a tattoo? Because I have a feeling-"

"That it's not?" Erin supplied smiling.

Mark nodded matching her smile.

"Honey your relentless interrogation has broken me, no it's not a tattoo," Erin began leaning forward and setting the gun back in the box from where it came. "You know it's a little too complicated to explain right now, but it's a birthmark, all members of the Huntsclan have them"

His eyes widened. "I remember you told me what about your mother, does she have one?"

"Yep," Erin nodded. "You'll notice whenever we visit her that she always has her right wrist covered with her hand, or a watch or the sleeve of her shirt or something…?"

Now Mark understood. "And your son and this friend of yours have it too?"

She nodded again. "They both do, and I know what you're thinking now, you're wondering why our children don't have it, well to give some sort of an answer, I'm not really sure, when I see Rose I'll be sure to ask her, her Uncle was the Huntsman our leader, I don't know anything about her parents thought"

"From what you about this Rose person, she sounds like someone you really don't want to cross, and she sounds like a loyal friend" Mark said pulling up details that his wife and given him.

Erin nodded. "That's a bit of an understatement, if you pissed her off or did something too her that she really didn't like she'd get even with you, or kill you, and she's very loyal, she covered my escape when I left the Huntsclan, and she made sure I wasn't detected, and if she did the other thing I asked her, she kept Paul in line, and kept an eye on Johnny for a few years…"

"And now he's her Son in Law," Mark remarked. "He must be awfully attached to her"

"Speaking of which, my mother did include that he had two kids with Rose's daughter, so that would make the both of us Grand Parents" Erin said with a lazy grin.

He smiled brightly. "Oh yea, what are they? Boys or Girls…?"

"Both of them are boys," Erin said, "I've always found that they were easier to raise"

"Who knows, we might get lucky and get a few more of them before were too old to even have them anymore" Mark snickered reaching up and running a hand through her hair.

Erin reciprocated by bringing her finger up and poking him lightly in the nose. "You know, as the sole person who cooks and cleans in that kitchen, I know from experience that the table is sturdy"

"I just love it when you talk dirty to me dear," He laughed and pulled her to him wrapping his arms around her. "Why don't we just go test your theory?"

**X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X **

**Manhattan New York, The Long Family Apartment 1:47 AM **

The entire time that he was on the Isle of Draco, he had pushed his Grandfather for the dismantling of the Flash Memo System. And for a time Lao Shi had suspended the program and he had ordered Fairies and Sprites to hand deliver messages like they had done before the Flash Memo System was invented. But after his Grandfather had died, Pro Tempore Edward Keeler had reinstated the Flash Memo program, and it had become his worse fear to be in a room with several people who were all receiving a message from the Dragon Council all at once. The noise that one message made was a horrible screeching sound, the sound that several of them would make would be probably be an ear splitting sound that would give him a headache.

But when it happened, he found that it was much easier to bear, and when he opened his eyes, he found a piece of a parchment was lying on his foot. Bending down, he grasped the paper and quickly read the message, it took him a moment to realize that he really was being ordered to go to the Isle of Draco at almost two in the morning. And factoring in the time difference it was technically six tomorrow. And right now if he could just reach out and strangle someone, it would be Pro Tempore Edward Keeler, because that man was ordering that he and his family go half way around the world in the early morning. And he was ordering him to return to the Isle of Draco, a place that held so many memories for him, memories that he really didn't want to relive.

He handed the message over to Haley and turned to look at Alyssa who was now flanking her mother on her right. "Well little Ms. American Dragon, the Dragon Council has summoned you and I to the Isle for a meeting, so first things first, be polite, don't be a smart ass and for goodness sakes, smile at them"

"Don't worry Dad," Alyssa put up her hands in surrender. "I don't like Keeler just as much as you do"

Jake smiled. "That's my girl"

"I guess I'll stay and look after the kids" Rose said to her husband quietly.

He looked at her curiously, something was wrong with her, but somehow he knew that this was not the time or place for whatever was on her mind. "No you will not, assuming that Fu and Alyssa's messages are the same as mine, Johnny and you will have to come with us, so it looks like Haley will have to do it"

Rose looked at her Sister in Law. "Uh, are you sure that you want to watch the kids?"

"I have looked after young kids in years," Haley observed. "I have a son of my own and he was always a quiet baby"

That earned a laugh from Rose and Jake over just the thought of a quiet child, they had five kids together not one of them so far to that point had been quiet or passive, they were exact miniatures of their parents in terms of the personality, Rose looked at Haley with a bright smile. "Haley, you should drop that notion, our kids are very strange"

"Yea," Jake said feigning disgust and pointing a finger at Alyssa. "Especially that one right there"

Alyssa put her hands on her hips and scoffed. "Sure, I'm the strange one in this family"

"Oh don't worry honey," Rose said looking at Alyssa mocking her with a motherly smile. "I gave birth to you, and before that time I never imagine that a human being could come from inside of me, and the first time I laid my eyes on you I thought you were the strangest thing that I had ever seen, and Alyssa that strangeness has never gone away"

Her first daughter looked at her dryly. "Gee Mom, thanks for the beautiful moment that we just shared"

"You are most welcome Honey" Rose said with a hint of snicker in her voice.

"Ok," Jakes said. "I think it's time that we get going, Fu I want you to set up the portal to the Isle of Draco, Alyssa, Johnny give him some help, Rose…eh, put on a jacket, I don't want Keeler staring at you while you're in that dress"

And then he turned to Haley. "Are you sure that you want to look after these kids?"

Haley nodded. "Of course I want to, and besides they're sleeping what harm could they do?"

All Jake could do was simply smile and utter one word. "Lots"

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X

AN: I did have this chapter written up a few days ago, and then my computer crashed and I lost it. In that version I actually had Erin meet our main characters. But since I'm forced to retype this, I decided to put that off until the next chapter, but anyway tell me what you think about all of this. Leave a review


	9. Edward Keeler and Surreal Assignments

**Chapter 8**

**Isle of Draco, Council Palace, Audience Antechamber**

He couldn't believe that he had come back here of his own free will, Jake hadn't been here since his Grandfather had died and if things had gone the way he wanted them to go, he would have never returned her again. Being here, on this island, in this Palace, in this chamber, it all reminded him of his Grandfather Lao Shi, and the thought of someone else being the De facto ruler of the Dragon State made him want to retch. Alyssa, Johnny and Rose were all talking a distance away from him, while he stood and stared at the massive twin doors of the Council Audience chamber. Somehow they knew that he wanted to be left along, and he was grateful that they had that force sight, until he felt a hand on his shoulder. "Daddy, can we talk?"

His daughter had walked up beside him and she wore a concerned look on her face, he looked over at her and smiled. "Of course we can, you know you can always talk to me if you want"

"I didn't ask for a father-ish add on Dad," Alyssa quipped. "I was just wondered how you were doing with everything that has happened today? Aunt Haley, The Dark Dragon and now this"

Jake actually wondered how he was doing, he had allowed his emotions to go blank after even hearing the words 'The Dark Dragon' and to be honest he felt bland. He knew from the moment that he first transformed into a Dragon that he would be fighting for the rest of his life, but as of late that life didn't seem all that great to him, it certainly wasn't a life that he wanted.

"Lyss I don't know how I'm feeling, but somehow when your aunt even said the word Dark Dragon, I knew that I would be back here in a matter of time," Jake said quietly. "And as far as she goes, I'm happy that's she back here, but it was made clear in the car that we have some bones to pick with each other, but that'll have to be after this Dark Dragon matter is settled"

She didn't know how to react to her Aunt, she didn't even know her, and to be frank after everything that her father had told her about Haley, she really wasn't that fond of her. "I can't believe she had the nerve to come back here after what she did to Grandma and you…"

"I could tell that by the way you acted around her, and as a matter of fact Alyssa, you need to treat her with a little respect, and be polite," Jake said folding his arms behind his back. "You may not be sixteen years old anymore and you may not have to do what I say anymore but I'm still your father and you are still my daughter, and Haley is your Aunt and you will treat her as such"

For the first time in years, she had been chewed out by her father, it felt strange. "I didn't know the way I acted would affect you so strongly, sure I'll try to be polite when I see her again"

"That you will," Jake paused. "I had meant to tell you that, she has a son"

Alyssa's mouth opened. "So you mean I have a cousin? Never imagined I'd have one of those"

"And I never once imagined that I would be an Uncle" He smiled turning back to look at the door.

The moment that they had been waiting for had arrived, he knew what the two guards approaching him meant, one that was the poor man who had the duty of ushering and the other was the man who was responsible for announcing those who saw the Council. Jake would want to kill himself if he ever got piddled with either job, which never would happen.

"General Long," The Usher said. "The Council will see you and your family, but there's a change of plans?

Jake narrowed his eyes. "What kind of change?"

"The Council has been moved into the Underground Bunker," He responded. "The entrance is through the Audience Chamber"

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X

**Isle of Draco, Underground Dragon Council Bunker, Situation Room **

Imagine Grand General Iverson's surprise when he saw the man whom he succeeded walking through the entrance to the Situation Room, he had respected and feared Jake Long and even though he had not seen the man in years, he still felt that way. At the sight of him, he dropped that paper in his hand and delivered a sharp salute to him. "General Long, it's good to see you, how are you sir?"

"…Iverson? Well I'm fine, a little tired though" Jake said reaching forward and shaking the man's hand.

He nodded. "Well I'm sure the Council would like to brief you now, it was good to talk to you sir"

"Likewise" Jake bowed and made a motion with his hand for his wife, daughter and son in law to follow him.

The Council followed Jake's every step as we walked forward with his company in tow, he came to stand at the end of the rectangular table, the opposite of Dragon Pro Tempore Edward Keeler. He did not acknowledge the other Councilors, just Keeler, he wanted to rip the man in two for calling him and his family here in the middle of the night, or hell early morning. Straightening his posture, he narrowed his eyes at Keeler and put a dry smile on his face. "_Pro Tempore_ Keeler, how long has it been?"

"Three and a half years General," Keeler responded matching the dry glare. "And I wonder do you know why you have been summoned here and such a late hour?"

Jake nodded. "Well of course I do, you want me to pull your ass out of the fire with this whole Dark Dragon fiasco, now forgive me for my bluntness, but I am tired, angry, and to be frank disgusted to be here while you are in that seat, so debrief me, assign me, and I will go"

Yes, his bluntness had gained him looks from the other councilors, some disapproving, some of them trying to stifle a chuckle or a giggle. Edward narrowed his eyes. "As Pro Tempore of the Dragon Council, I am recalling you back into active duty, it is your only objective to stop the Dark Dragon"

"Oh and you were expecting that someone else could do it," Jake grinned. "You know that I am the last Dragon alive that has ever faced him one on one and lived and now you're thinking I can do it again, and I'm the only one who could"

Keeler nodded.

"And you also think that this will save your ass?" Jake asked sarcastically.

The Pro Tempore shook his head in disapproval. "Ah your bluntness is not appreciated General, anyway, do whatever you need to do, but I want him stopped before he can do any damage or in a worst case scenario exposes us"

Jake nodded his head. "As you wish Sir, it will be done once I get some sleep"

With that Keeler made a motion for Alyssa who was standing at her father's right, she perked her head up and raised her eyebrows. Even thought she didn't like the man, he was still her superior.

"American Dragon," Keeler began. "Your one and only objective is to assist your father in anything he needs, and do as he says, all other concerns are secondary"

Alyssa nodded folding her arms across her chest. "Understood"

Then Keeler looked to Jake's left, where Rose and Johnny were, years ago they would have thought being in this room was a nightmare. But now they knew that the Dragons needed them, and they ate it up. "Mrs. Long, might I say that the dress you're wearing is beautiful"

She snorted and nodded shallowly. "Thank you Mr. Pro Tempore"

"So, you being General Long's wife and also being the former Huntsgirl, you do know who the Dark Dragon is?" Keeler asked.

Rose nodded and crossed her arms around her chest. "Yes, for a few years before we knew about him, he was thought to be a myth, but when he began to work again, he was considered a great enemy and in times that he threatened both worlds, magical and human, his destruction was our first priority, even over the destruction of this Council"

"Oh," Keeler said wide eyed. "So did the Huntsclan develop weapons that could destroy him?"

She nodded with a flat look. "A lot of them, chemical and biological weapons, guns that fired bullets enhanced with special designed acid meant to dissolve Dragon scales on contact, rocket propelled grenades that when fired, released an airborne pathogen that eroded the central nervous system of a Dragon, and there was one more that was a device that _I _myself designed"

"I would like to know about it Mrs. Long, but first a quick question, why is it that none of these weapons were ever used against us?" Keeler asked putting a forceful tone under his words.

"Eh…the weapons had a very bad side affect," Rose began looking down at the table for a moment and then back up at Keeler. "The three agents that we developed, the acid, the pathogen and the biological pathogen itself somehow eroded through the weapon that we deployed it from, and it affected our testers, with five minutes of firing the weapon, they began to have seizures, in twenty minutes every blood vessel in the body broke, which caused them to have a cerebral hemridge and die"

That sounded like a gruesome fate, and all Keeler did was nod. "So they were deemed a bad risk?"

"That's correct," Rose said. "The only weapon that we developed that worked, was the one that I co-designed, we found a material that was strong enough contain the weaponized pathogen"

Keeler cocked his head at her. "So you designed the one weapon in this arsenal that worked?"

"Co-Designed it," She corrected. "Two other people also helped designed the prototype, and we tested it on a Dragon that we captured, the test was very successful, and my Uncle gave me authorization to build another one, and then the project was scrapped shortly after, I don't know what happened to the one we built after we detonated the Prototype"

The heads of all of the Dragon Councilors turned look at Rose in that moment. "What? I didn't capture him an extraction team did, for good measure do you want me to tell you how we got the test subject, he's been dead for years but if it makes you feel better"

She looked to her Husband who giving her the same look as everyone else in the room, the only that didn't have that shocked look was Johnny, but he wouldn't have for obvious reasons. Rose scoffed and put her hands on her hips. "Fine, it took three months to find a material to contain the Nerve Gas Pathogen, it took another two to draw up the designs of the device, and six months for an extraction team to survey a dragon and capture him we did it and he died rather quickly after we tested the device"

"And who was this dragon?" Keeler asked drumming his fingers on the surface.

Rose shook her heard trying to recall the memory. "Well the Dragon that we captured was…if I can remember it correctly, he was from Australia, I think his name was Nerk or something like that…"

Her husband to her side snorted, oh he remembered Fred Nerk very well, and he couldn't have wished that fate on anyone. And how ironic it seemed that his wife had a hand in the man's death, he was curious to know what he had done in the last moments of his life. "The Australian Dragon Fred Nerk…?"

Jake had seemed more surprised than angry, she simply looked over at him and shrugged. "Was he really? Oops, we really didn't care what he was, he was just a Dragon and we needed to test the device"

"Alright," Keeler said holding up a hand with an impatient look on his face. "Enough of this, Mrs. Long can I trust that you and your son in law can procure anything that the Huntsclan developed for him?"

Surprised that he had even ventured through that entire line of questioning, Rose simply nodded her head and laughed. "Sure I can, and I can guarantee that Johnny will happily go along with this…"

"Very well Mrs. Long," Keeler said. "And might I ask a favor of you?"

She nodded. "Of course you can sir"

"Do you have any other people that can help you? Not Dragons or magical creatures? Ex-Hunters?" He asked.

Rose slapped her hands together and smiled at him. "I'll do you one better, I can get two, one of which helped design the nerve gas device, and it just so happens that they are my son in law's Mother and Grandmother…."

His eyes widened and turned to Johnny was at Rose's side. "Mr. Sindacco, are you comfortable with all of this?"

Johnny shook his head. "It might be a little awkward, but sure, I can work with them"

"Very well," Keeler said leaning forward. "I am ordering that these two be brought here to be debriefed, if so possible, I want it done tonight, and frankly I don't care if you are all tired, we'll all be dead if you don't do this, General do you have any objection to brining them in"

Jake sighed. "Well of course I do, I would much prefer to get some sleep but…"

"Let me put it this way then General, if neither you nor your wife wants to get these Hunters back here to the Isle _tonight_," Keeler began turning to Alyssa. "Then American Dragon, I am ordering you to bring them in by any means necessary, are we clear?"

Rose leaned forward and put both of her hands on the table. "That won't be necessary, I'll bring them in, if my husband wants to sleep then fine, I know how to talk to them, I know them, and I can guarantee you that I less than three hours, I will have both Jackie and Erin Hutchinson standing here in front of you and they will be as cooperative as I am with you…"

"Somehow," Keeler said with a sneer towards Jake. "I find that your word is much more valuable than that of the good General, so if you would please get going and bring them in"

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X

**Manhattan New York, The Long Family Apartment**

Jake was still surprised the way that Rose had taken charge in front of the Dragon Council, it embarrassed him Rose wasn't complaining about sleep even though she was just as tired as he was. When they had returned to the apartment, he immediately separated himself from her and watched as she moved into action. She was right to guarantee them, because if anyone could, Rose sure could.

The closet in their living room held a secret, sure in all appearances it looked like a closet, but in the back behind the jackets and coats, a chrome keypad was on the wall that opened a sliding door into another room. In that room was where she held _all_ of her weapons. Everywhere that she had lived in the past twenty years had one of these rooms, Los Angeles, The Isle of Draco, here, she had designed and built those rooms herself and she had done just the same with this. As she was loading a magazine into one of her guns, she heard the sound of footsteps coming through the entrance when she turned and saw her Husband, Sister in Law, Daughter and Son in Law she smiled at them. They had never seen this room, sure they knew about it, but she had never let them in it and this was the first time. "Alyssa did I ever tell you that your mom is a lunatic?"

"No Daddy," She said looking around at the various weapons. "I came to that conclusion myself, so Mom what are going to do when see them?"

Rose cocked the gun and walked over a few steps to set it on the table in the center of the room. "The Gun isn't for Erin, mainly it's for Jackie, but if either of them decides to start shooting, I really don't to get caught with my pants down, so I can hope that you'll understand"

"You're going to shoot my mother?" Johnny asked standing next to Alyssa.

She shook her head. "Of course not, I might have to clock her one maybe but I'm not going to shot her, will you get one of the staffs off of the shelf behind you?"

Johnny turned around and saw what she was talking about, his heart rate increased when he saw what she meant by staff. The entire shelf that she was referring too had Huntstaffs from small to large on it. He reached for the largest one and gripped it, and the familiar excitement that he felt whenever he touched a Huntstaff coursed through him. The feeling was interrupted when a hand was placed on his shoulder. "Relax Johnny, I know what you're feeling right now"

"What is that exactly?" He asked as Rose took the staff from his hand.

She smiled and ran her hand over the cylinder of the handle. "You miss the staff, for the most of your life, you're taught that the staff is an extension of yourself and when your parted with it, it feels like your being parted with an old friend or a family member"

"I think you nailed it," Johnny said. "But the Dragons destroyed mine when I tried to kill Jake"

Rose snickered. "Well if it makes you feel any better, this is my oldest staff, and do you know how many times I've smacked my Husband over the head with it?"

"For some strange reason, that does make me feel better" Johnny grinned.

She looked back to Alyssa and Jake who were talking amongst themselves and then she looked back at him. "Whenever I'm mad at him, so do I"

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X

**Brooklyn New York, The Home of Mark Harrison and Erin Hutchison **

Her married life, she had been skittish about noises that came from outside in the middle of the night, but until not it had been just a paranoid reflex, and it was one that she was not ever going to let go. She had to pry herself out of the arms of her husband and get dressed, it had been less than an hour since they 'consummated' and they were in the middle of a heavy sleep. But the sounds of a car pulling up into their driveway had somehow jerked her up, now dressed in her pajamas she padded into her living room gripping the gun that she had shown Mark earlier. It being the only gun in the house that she had, it was the only defense she had besides herself. Gripping the gun in both hands she preceded the front door and moved the curtains aside to peer out of the window.

A black LS Mercedes was sitting in her driveway and she could see two people in it, one was a women that was oblivious by her long dirty blonde hair, and the other was a man with hair so black that she had a hard time distinguishing it between the color of the car and the night sky. She cocked the gun and reached forward and turned the door knob, taking in a deep breath, she opened it and went outside.

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X

AN:/ This will be my last update with this story –maybe- for a while, I think I'm leaving you a good enough cliff hanger. Leave a review please.


	10. Friends and Family

**Chapter 9 **

**Franklin County New York, Huntsclan Academy Complex, Dragon Nerve Gas testing facility **

"_Is the Dragon ready?" Her voice broke over the conversation that her two colleagues were having. _

_Dallas Grey and Erin Hutchison turned to figure standing in the doorway of the testing chamber, she was clothed in the uniform of the Huntsclan and the insignia on that uniform identified her as the Huntsgirl. She was the leader of this project, while Erin and Dallas handled making the different designs of gas and the designs of the device, and the goal was to make a successful form of gas that eroded the Central Nervous System of a Dragon. Dallas was not fond of the Huntsgirl, she was arrogant and self righteous not to mention the fact that she thought way too highly of herself. On some level he knew he was wrong, she was all of those things but with her skill, brains and abilities she had every right to be that way._

_With a heavy sigh he folded his arms around his chest and nodded. "Yes, we are waiting for the new mixture of the gas to be plugged into the chamber ventilation and we can begin, is that acceptable?" _

_Rose smiled. "You better hurry up, because the Huntsman will be here in fifteen minutes for an official show of the prototype, and I really don't have to remind you who will be punished if you take your time" _

"_Yea all of us" Dallas shot back scowling at her slightly. _

_The Huntsgirl walked forward and put her arm on Erin's shoulder who was watching this exchange with a smirk on her face. "It just so happens that you are the only one officially responsible for this project, I'm just here to supervise and Erin is my assistant, so if any one get's their head cut off, I can assure you that it will be you, now are you going to hurry up, or wait for him to get here?" _

_All Dallas could do was frown deeply and stomp on his foot before he walked out of the door that Rose had entered through. Rose looked over to her friend and let out a laugh. "I lied, he'll be here in an hour and a half, but it was fun watching his face" _

"_Why must you do that to him," Erin shook her head in amusement. "You know he could kill you one day if you don't watch out" _

_She looked at her friend with a bemused smirk. "Really, I always thought it would be the other way around" _

"_Maybe, so, has the device been prepped?" Erin asked putting her hands on her hips. _

"_I have it standing by in the injection chamber, once this test is completed, we'll inject the device with the gas and we'll get to show it off to the Huntsman," Rose said sounding as if she was utterly bored. "And maybe we can get some sleep tonight" _

"_In the event that this display is successful, what are you going to do?" The other girl asked. _

_Rose's face went into a neutral pose. "I've got a few more months of shakedown time left at the Academy and when that's over my Uncle will hopefully let me back into the field and not stuck here, and to be honest I miss the city so much that I think I'll die if I don't see it soon, but what I'm more curious about is what are you going to do after your out of here?" _

"_I'll probably be assigned," Erin shrugged. "Be put in some back water county in some other state and pass the time" _

_The Huntsgirl snorted. "Well frankly I'd rather be in your position, I swear when I get back to the city and I have to get hit with the American Dragon's damn tail again I think I'm just going to lose my mind and chase him until I kill him" _

"_I heard he gave you real problems" She remarked. _

"_That's putting it mildly." Rose snorted. "So many problems that I ended up coming back here" _

**X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X**

**Brooklyn New York, Outside the Home of Mark Harrison and Erin Hutchison **

That was one of the few things that she could remember about the night that the Huntsman had seen the Nerve Gas put to the test and the night that he had given her permission to go on. Now twenty very odd years later, she needed to find that weapon, and her first step was to get Erin and then she would go after the chief researcher, Dallas Grey. It was no question that Grey was still alive, he had left the Huntsclan shortly after they had completed the Nerve Gas and the last time she had heard anything about him, he was working with a Weapons Contracting Firm in Washington D.C. And there was something in that thought that gave her a bad feeling, not to mention a headache. Dallas carried the specifications to that weapon and for all Rose knew he still carried the one working unit that they were able to build, he needed to be found. The other question that came to mind was simply, would that Nerve Gas work on the Dark Dragon? It had too he was still a living, breathing thing.

And so sitting in her car with her son in law, they repeated the same thing that they had when they had arrived at his Grandmother's house. This time however, one was clutching a gun and the other was holding an un-deployed Huntstaff. Rose turned to Johnny. "Are you sure that this is the correct house?"

"This is the address that Jackie gave me" Johnny said feeling his heat beating out of his chest.

"Alright," Rose said looking over at the porch of the house. "I want you to stay in here and I'll go up there and see what and who I can find, there's a gun in the glove box if people start shooting"

Johnny frowned. "You promised me that you weren't going to shoot my mother"

"Hey, I said I wasn't going to start shooting if it comes to that," Rose shrugged so nonchalantly that it made Johnny fear for his mother. "And if it makes you feel any better, I have a magazine of blanks, and I'll aim for her foot or something like that"

That was it with all of this, he wasn't going to sit in this car while his mother and mother in law shot it out in some front lawn in the middle of the night. "I'm going with you, I don't give a flying crap what you say she is my mother and I won't let you hurt her"

She smiled and laughed. "Johnny, three and a half years ago I was just your girlfriend's mother and if you thought I was a pain in the ass then realize this honey, I'm your mother in law, and I can be a special pain in the ass to you, so do as I say not as I do"

Now it was a battle of wills between then and it would be decided in a contest in which they stared at each other, until Johnny came to the conclusion that she was right and if she threatened him he knew that she could make good on fulfilling that threat. He lowered his gaze to the gear shift and then he looked away out the window. "Fine, but please make it quick if you have to"

**X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X**

**Manhattan New York, The Long Family Apartment **

"One thing that you need to learn," Jake said as he joined his sister on the couch. "Never sit and wait for Rose to return from whatever she's doing, because it'll feel like she's never going to return, just get on with life as usual"

Haley smirked. "I always thought that you two would make it, even though you are so different from one another"

To be honest with himself, he had his doubts about his marriage to Rose, they had two different opinions and two different ways of getting things done. But the marriage between the former American Dragon and the former Huntsgirl had gone off with only a few hitches, and it seemed that when put together their opinions matched and coalesced into something great. "You'd be surprised, I can only count the arguments we've had on one hand"

"Actually I'm not surprised," She remarked, her smirk growing into a smile. "You two were always great"

"The chair would like to rebut the comment made by Jacob Long AKA Daddy" Alyssa said walking from the hall to join her father and Uncle who were sitting in the living room. "I remember a really big fight they had"

Haley looked at her niece, she was surprised. "Oh, well I guess you're a better character witness then I am"

"It was a few weeks after Mom had gotten back from LA, and I am proud to say that this is the first time I ever saw my parents argue, it was about how the kitchen had been arranged" Alyssa said looking at her father smiling.

A low chuckle left his mouth, and Jake narrowed his eyes at his daughter. "Ah yes I do remember that I well, she complained about how I set the cups in the cabinet, right side up, and it just escalated into a whole lot more"

"Well Jake, they do go in the cabinet upside down, or they'll collect dust" Haley said laughing at the entire time.

Alyssa leaned back and nodded her head. "I second that Daddy"

"Oh forgive me for trying to balance, American Dragon, Father and Homemaker," Jake shrugged. "It was just always the way I did it even before she had gotten back, the point I tried to make was, I gave our daughter _the talk_, I was with her when she bought her first tampons and her first bra, that led me to believe I could've arranged the cups the way I wanted, you know go figure"

His sibling blinked. "And what exactly did she say to that?"

Jake leaned forward and put his hands on both of his hips, and he spoke mocking screech of a female voice. "Is that it?"

With that great impression of her mother, Alyssa began to laugh loudly, she leaned back and clapped her hands together still chuckling heavily. "I'll be sure to tell her that you do a great her, and I'm sure that she does a great you"

"Hell I can do a great him," Haley mumbled. "_Aww Man_"

He looked over to his sister. "Hey I don't say that anymore"

"Sure, and I'm not really Haley, I'm actually two leprechauns in a Haley suit" She stuck her tongue out at him.

For the first time, Alyssa laughed with her Aunt, and if it weren't for the stern warning that her father had given her at the Isle she wouldn't have engaged them in this conversation. But she was happy she did.

**X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X**

**Brooklyn New York, Outside the Home of Mark Harrison and Erin Hutchinson **

While she was shutting the door to her car, she could have sworn she heard the front door of the home opening. Rose narrowed her eyes, and cocked her gun, again she had to believe that Erin and her were not going to shoot at each other. But she knew that her friend would be armed, and if she was armed that Rose wouldn't feel safe until she was armed. Walking around the front of the car, she brought her gun up and in an impulse of her instincts, fired at the ground in front of the door. And as she expected, her shots were returned by shots being fired around her feet. "You know Rose, you haven't lost it"

"Oh," Rose smiled. "Well if I know you and I think I do, neither have you"

She still couldn't see Erin, she must being hiding behind a tree or something. "Well I'll take that as a complement, and sorry for the rudeness, I just need to make sure I'm not being ambushed"

"Well, unless you're under the impression that I've conscripted your own son into an ambush party, then you'll find that I'm friendly," Rose began knowing that would have a deep affect on Erin. "I'll understand if you're feeling paranoid, but have you talked to your mother?"

Rose could hear the wariness in her voice. "Then why did you take a shot at my front door?"

"I don't know what to expect," Rose explained not lowering her gun. "When I went to your mothers, she held a knife to my throat"

She could hear Erin laugh. "Well that's my mommy, drop the gun and I'll drop mine, and we can talk face to face"

Lowering her right hand, she placed the gun on the hood of her car and raised both of her hands in surrender. "I don't know if you can see what I just did, but I've lowered my gun, so let's stop playing games and talk, I'm here because I have to be and because I wanted to be"

"Give me a moment" Erin said.

And then Rose saw her, she was hiding behind a tree that was on the far side of the front porch of the home, it was directly opposite of Rose. It amazed her that in the dark she was still able to be seen so greatly, she could make out her long black hair, her pajamas, and the gun that was clutched in her hand. Even though Erin had told her to lower the gun, she reached forward and grabbed it. "I told you to put the gun down"

"Then why are you holding one yourself?" Rose questioned furrowing her eyebrows.

Erin was still approaching her and her face was still covered by shadow, but she could make out a smile on her face. "Fair enough, so, why are you here? I know it's not just to reunite me with my long lost child, you came here at two in the morning so there is another reason"

"Before I answer that question I need you to answer mine" Rose said as Erin finally walked up to her and she was showered in light.

In Rose's opinion, she looked almost exactly as she did since she had last seen her. She was still as youthful looking as she was when she was seventeen, she had grown up obviously but she looked ten years younger than she actually was. When Erin smiled reached forward and hugged her tightly, she returned the gesture by patting her on the back and laughing. "Well," Erin said separating from their embrace. "You've gotten fat"

"Well…you've gotten old" Rose quipped putting her hands on her hips.

Erin narrowed her eyes. "Well then we both lied"

"Sure," Rose snickered. "So before I leave you alone to talk with your son, I need to know something, Dallas Grey"

"Yea, I remember him," Erin said crossed her arms around her chest, she lightly rubbed her forearms as breeze came through. "Don't you?"

She nodded. "Of course I do, but he's off the of the grid and he has something that I need, and you are the only one who can help me"

"I'll help you gladly, but what does he have exactly unless…?" Erin asked trailing off as the answer came into her mind.

Rose nodded her head in an affirmative. "He has the blue prints to the pathogen and he perhaps has the model one that we built"

Honestly she missed the days were she had something to do besides be a mother, but when with that Pathogen she would be putting her life at risk and if that gas killed her then her children would have no mother. And her Husband would have no wife. "I don't know Rose, I'll need to think about that, I mean I have a family now, my kids, my Husband"

"Let me put it a different way," Rose said. "If I _don't_ do anything, then my kids and my husband will be in danger"

Erin put her hands up. "Alright let's start from the beginning, why do you need this pathogen? What are the Dragons threatening your family?"

"That's a bit ironic," Rose laughed nervously. "I actually married a Dragon, my daughter, your daughter in law, is a dragon I don't know if my younger kids are Dragons yet, and I'm under orders from the Dragon Council itself to bring that device in so they can use it against the Dark Dragon who is going to want to rule the world and wipe out Humans as a whole, so that would mean me, you, Johnny, your family so you have just as much to lose as I do, so I need you to really help me with this"

Well, that was certainly a lot of information to take in, Erin simply stared at Rose with an incredulous stare and then she shook her head. "Ok, so going off what I know, the Dragons are wanting to use a weapon that we designed to kill them against one of their greatest enemies, do they understand that if anyone who comes into contact with that gas, it causes someone to die very painfully?"

"I don't know if they get that yet," Rose said. "But if it can kill one Dragon I bet it can kill the Dark Dragon, and they are willing to take the chance if it does finally take him out, and as far as your other concern of us coming into contact we the device, Erin, we built the damn thing, I think we know how to handle it"

Erin frowned and looked at the pavement of the driveway for a moment. "I want to talk to this Council"

"Ah," Rose smiled and held up a finger. "You nailed my second request, they want to talk to you, and your mother"

The younger woman scoffed. "It'll be hard to convince her to go to them, I'd better go with you up there, but first Rose, I really think I need to take this moment to talk to my son whom I have never had a conversation with"

"Oh right of course," Rose said. "And take it slow, he might need some time to get used to all of this"

She turned her head the passenger side of her car, and Erin followed her movement and for the first time in decades, mother and son locked their equally green eyes on each other.

**X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X**

AN:/ Well what do you know? I was able to eekk out another update. I know that there will not be another update for at least two weeks, I have a trip that I have to do for my work, but I will be back soon after those two weeks. For those that are really following this story, I thought this would be the most appropriate spot to break off for a cliff hanger, wouldn't you agree? Well I'll see you in two weeks, and please keep those reviews coming.


	11. A Mother and her Son

Chapter 10

As much as she was so happy for Erin and Johnny, she was very tired, and exhausted even, her entire day had been one of emotional a roller coaster. She began the day with picking up Johnny and driving him for most of the day, and then she was nearly killed by his lunatic Grandmother. And when she came back she felt like she was pregnant and after getting under the impression that she was knocked up, she had her hopes crushed when a pregnancy test she took at her daughter confirmed that she was pregnant. And now this, it had been one hell of day, and she was looking forward to just getting it out of the way.

Turning away from the scene unfolding in front of her, she reached into the pocket of her pants and pulled out her cell phone. Pausing for a moment, she felt a wave of nausea overcome her, Rose actually had to brace a hand on the side of the house to keep her balance. She had to force her herself not to vomit, and with her hand she dialed her house number, it was on her speed dial and she thanked god for that. She really was to overcome by the feeling of nausea to dial any number. Holding it up to her ear, she relaxed her breathing and the feeling stopped. And then she heard her husband's voice on the other end of the phone. "Hello Rose, am I correct in assuming that you found Erin?"

"Yea," Rose said turning to look at what was happing between her friend and Johnny. "Right now I'm letting them have their moment, and then she going to help me go convince Jackie to help us, and Jake are we on speaker phone?"

"No, is everything alright?" Jake asked, concern lacing his voice in every word.

Her thinking stuttered for a moment. "I took a pregnancy test at Alyssa's it told me that I wasn't pregnant, but speaking as a woman who has had five kids, my instinct is telling me that I am, I've been feeling nauseous all day, right now I really have to pee, and my head spinning, now speaking as someone who has dealt with a pregnant me five times, how does that sound to you?"

Rose could almost sense the grin on Jake's face, and that made her rather irritated. "Wow, uh, it does sound like you're pregnant"

"I know, but…you know what," Rose stopped. "We'll talk about all of this later, I just wanted to let you know what going on, and it'll be a few hours before I make it back in"

And not even bothering to wait for a response or the customary 'Talk to you later' she ended the phone call. Slipping the cell phone back into her pocket she put her hands back on her hips and not even knowing that she was doing it, she began to pace back and forth. This was boggling her mind, she could swear on a bible that she was pregnant, but the tests weren't telling her that she was. She sighed irritably and closed her eyes, gods she wanted sleep.

Erin let out a light chuckle as she realized that she had to look up at him, he was very tall and he was at least a foot taller than her. Bringing her hand up, she cupped his cheek and then she was touched by a slight pang of sadness and anger, partly with herself and with his father. She was angry because she had missed out on this boy's life, his birthdays, Christmas, all of that. And she was very angry with his father for causing her to leave like that, and she was just all around pissed off with Paul. She was glad that he was dead, she hoped that the Son of a Bitch suffered. "Wow," She said softly. "You have gotten really big"

"I don't think we can all stay infants," He stopped for a moment. "…Mom"

With that she reached forward and wrapped her arms around his neck, and she hugged him tightly. "I can't believe that I'm speaking with you," She choked out. "Because all I have ever wanted, throughout all of these years, with all of the people I have met, you are the one person that I've wanted to meet and to have a conversation with, my baby boy…"

Tears were now welling in both of their eyes. "I'm not so much of a baby anymore"

"Well from what I hear," Erin smiled. "My baby, has babies of his own, can't wait to meet them, and maybe I can counterbalance the bitchiness of their other Grandmother"

Johnny laughed, and that made Erin smile from ear to ear. "I don't think the _god_ of counterbalance can do that, and I'm sure my sons would be happy to meet you"

"And what about my Daughter in Law, has she been treating you right?" Erin asked winking.

He looked over his mother's shoulder at Rose who pacing the width of the driveway, and then he looked back at Erin. "Is it self-explanatory to say she's a carbon copy of her mother, I mean now that I think about all of that, I guess that it is rather self explaining?"

"Would it make you feel better if I slapped her mother?" She teased patting him on the back.

He smirked. "I only met you a few minutes ago, so forgive me if I kind of doubt that you can get away with that, I mean I've know her longer and I know what she can do"

"You do have a point," Erin said dryly and with a sigh she removed herself from their embrace. "So, can you give me the details on why you chose to have this reunion right now?"

"Does the name Dark Dragon mean anything too you?" Johnny asked.

Erin scoffed. "Oh yes, and would this have anything to do with the biological weapons that we developed to fight him, because she asked me the same thing, but as usual she's cryptic"

"Yes it is," He nodded. "And the Dragon Council has ordered her to bring you and …Grandma to the Isle of Draco and hell or high water she's going to get the both of you there"

The woman shrugged. "Well then son, I suppose that I should help you"

Johnny wasn't able to respond, he noticed that Rose was making her way to his mother's front porch. "I think Rose needs something, and she might need your help"

"Oh," Erin turned around. "Rose you realize you are breaking and entering"

"Somewhat," She responded dryly. "I really have to pee can I use your bathroom?"

"When you get into the house, go down the hall to your right, and it's the second door to the right," Erin smiled. "Is there anything else that my house can afford to you?"

Rose bit her lip, she wasn't sure if she should do this. "…and uh…do you have a pregnancy test?"

_**The Long Family Apartment, Manhattan New York **_

Haley was sleeping and Alyssa was making herself something to eat in the kitchen, and as for himself something about his phone call with Rose had touched something in him. And as soon he was finished talk with her, he had gone into his twin sons room, and he had been staring at them for more than twenty minutes. If the Dark Dragon had his way, these two children who would be dead, and Jake was never going to let that happen. These two had their whole lives ahead of them and he would be damned if he was going to let them die because of his actions. That creature's problem was with him and not with his children, but reason didn't matter to the Dark Dragon, he was going do anything he could to wipe the Long Blood off the Earth.

And he was going to play the part he had played since he was fourteen, he was going to fight the Dark Dragon and he would do anything, anything to kill him. Because if he didn't, that meant his children would be in serious danger. Reaching down, he ran his hand over the smooth head of one of the twins. Who was this again? Michael or Daemon, it had been several months since their birth and he still hadn't been able to tell them apart. The only way he could really tell them apart from each other, was their eyes, Michael's were blue and Daemon's were brown. When he first learned that he was just amazed how genetics worked. "Daddy, do you want something to eat?"

How did she sneak up on him like that? He simply shook his head. "What did you make?"

"Grilled Cheese" She smiled standing next to him.

He turned to her and grinned. "I love Grilled Cheese, you truly are my daughter"

"Well about a million blood tests seem to agree with you" She remarked dryly.

Mocking a scowl he looked down at his sons. "Not funny"

"Is something bothering you?" She asked following his sight line.

And then now she understood. "Look, you don't need to worry about them, you and mom are great parents and if anyone tries to threaten them, I pretty sure that even if you can do anything, Mom can slap a bitch"

"I suppose your right, but what if I fail and I get killed," Jake said not taking his eyes off of the sleeping babies in their crib. "I'm reliving that feeling that I had when you were eight months old, I didn't know who was going to take care of you if that happened?"

Jake couldn't understand how she could laugh, but she did laugh and he raised his eye brows. "Are my worries funny dear?"

"A little, I mean there is a difference now, these children have a very protective older sibling that will take them in if you and more are shall we say…incapacitated" She paused hard, even the thought of that made her want to cry and she had to hold them back.

Jake reached over put his hand on her shoulder. "You do realize that if that happens, then the Dark Dragon will be gunning for you, and if that happens you need to hide them"

"I do have in-laws that are Hunters," She smiled. "I think they'll defend them furiously"

AN:/ I have to be honest, this whole thing was just too warm me up, and I was totally drained on my trip so forgive my lack of making this chapter longer. Please leave a review and tell me what you think.


	12. Mark Harrison, Stepfather

**Chapter 11 **

She hadn't accounted on the fact that Erin would follow her into the bathroom, this was something that she needed to do and frankly she didn't want an audience. Luckily she had already peed on the stick before Erin had practically forced her way into the bathroom and by the time Rose was just sitting on the toilet with the test in her hand. The younger of the two women shut the door softly behind her and walked over to the counter, and then she looked over and noticed that her friend had an anxious expression on her face. And even though it had been sometime since they had last seen each other, it was maybe the third time at most that she had seen the expression. "How many will this make?"

"Lucky number six" Rose stated flatly wanting the time to pass.

Erin whistled. "And I thought that three kids was painful"

"You wanna talk about painful, just ask my husband, I think when I gave birth the last time I practically ripped his arm off when I was pushing them out," Rose reflected. "But my memory is a little fuzzy, I was medicated from the eyes down"

Turning around she leaned on a sink. "My son's were both c-sections, and when I gave birth to my daughter my husband convinced me to give birth naturally"

"I take it that he regretted that" Rose smirked.

Smiling she nodded and brought up her hand. "Four stitches, he saw the bone"

Rose actually winced. "Damn and I thought I was vicious"

"Well it's hard to be kind when you trying to blow a Saint Bernard out of your ass, but I digress" She remarked dryly clasping her hands together over her stomach.

That made her laugh, and just as she was going to respond the test that was in her lap began to beep. She was surprised how quickly these worked, but then again she had used an electronic one with her third child Rachel, and she had gotten it back in less than a few minutes. Before looking down to see the result, she looked over to Erin and smiled. "It's funny to me when I think that ever since I started having sex with my husband, and I've been doing that since I was sixteen, I've played the role of a fetus condo to five children"

Looking down, her breath caught and then she gasped. This test had given her the exact opposite answer that her daughter's test had given her, she was pregnant, she was going to give birth to another child. It wasn't surprising to her and she was less happy than she imagined that she would be. And without her knowledge, tears began to fall down her flushed face. "Is it good news?"

"It depends on what you consider good news," She said. "I don't even know why I'm crying, I mean I'm going to have another kid, but I'm just not sure if…"

Erin understood her concern, because she had shared that concern so much in the last few years with her Husband. They were getting older, and Erin was quite confident that she could speak for herself and Rose when she said that the more kids that they had, the longer it would take for their lives to start. She loved her kids, but she also loved her Husband. "I think about it this way, when they're all gone, you'll have your husband, and you'll get too see your grandchildren and spoil them rotten, and spend holidays and birthdays with them and it will work"

"Wow, I've really never thought about that" Rose admitted her eyes widening.

The other woman scoffed and put her hands on her hips. "You've never thought about that, and yet you have two Grandkids who happen to also be mine?"

"Hey," Rose stuck her tongue out at her. "I give them anything they want"

Erin eyed her, mocking suspicion. "Well one time about ten months ago, I was really pregnant and I was moody, I was picking one of them up from school and I told him that we were going to the store, he said he wanted some candy, I told him no, he gave me a face that made me start crying right there in the aisle, I broke and told him to go pick out the biggest bag of candy he could find"

"Oh God your daughter must love you," Erin mused and then she smiled. "You know I might just do what you did, might buy some points with the Grandkids"

Rose stood up and sat the test down on the counter. "I find that with kids that small, their love is just as easy to buy as it is to earn, keep that in mind with them"

**Inside the home of Mark Harrison and Erin Hutchinson **

Something inside of his was amazed that this was the home that his mother had made for herself and her family, and he wondered how he was going to fit into this life that his mother had made for himself. He walked through the hall that his mother had gone down and he found that he couldn't stop looking at the pictures that adorned the wall. Johnny felt a wave of jealousy come over him when he saw a picture of his mother, and it was most undoubtedly his mother, sitting on a playground swing with an infant child between her legs. That was probably his little half brother, and he didn't know exactly why he was jealous about all of that. It was simply a mother and her child, but then he knew why.

It wasn't him on that swing and that was what made it hard, he didn't have anything like this, with either of his parents. His father would have dismissed this as a serious weakness and frankly he would have laughed at the idea. In the environment that he was raised, you weren't allowed to be a normal person, you were expected to disciplined, iron clad. And looking back on it now, he was amazed that you were supposed to act that way as a child.

"Hi honey" His mother's voice broke his somewhat depressing thoughts.

He turned and looked at her. "Where is Rose?"

"She's a little in disposed," Erin smiled. "I'll let her tell you what's happened"

Then she saw what he was looking at and she frowned slightly. "That was when your brother was two, I had been married to my husband for only a few months"

"You look like you're having fun" He said not blinking at all.

Erin nodded. "I never really told Mark this, your stepdad, but that was perhaps the second time in my life that I had ever even sat on a swing, it was quite nerve racking to be on that swing with your infant child when you yourself are afraid"

"You'd only been on a swing twice?" Johnny raised his eyebrows.

"Well Son, consider where we were both raised and then you'll understand why we all can't have childhood memories," She paused and motioned at the picture. "Like this one, but I tried to give my kids the most normal life possible"

The little voice in his head immediately shot back '_All expect you_' and that made him frown. Erin immediately caught onto this. "Is there something wrong?"

And then it happened, the self control that he had against the subject of his mother for all of his life broke. Just standing there, looking at a picture of his siblings having these memories made him break. He reached forward and hugged her tightly and he began to sob in her shirt. And not knowing at all what to do about this, she simply returned the gesture and began to rub his back comfortingly. "I am so sorry that you had to grow up without me but…you know how your father was, and I know how he was and I had to leave for you"

"W-well why the hell didn't you take me with you then?" He choked out.

Tears began to fall down Erin's face as well. "Because you know he would have found us, and he would have killed me and probably you, and I couldn't allow that to happen, besides I asked Rose to look after you as you grew up"

"You did?" He asked her with a hint of laughter in his voice.

Erin nodded brining his face off of her shoulder and cupping it. "I asked her the very night I left to keep an eye on you and your father, I asked her to keep him in line and you out of trouble, she eagerly agreed, but apparently she wasn't-"

"-There long enough," Johnny finished the sentence for her. "I don't blame Mrs. Long or you for what's happened in the past, I blame dad him only…"

Erin's eyes brightened as she nodded. "Speaking of the devil, how did it happen, I mean how did Paul die? Was it gruesome as I had dreamed?"

"Well I sort of," He stopped for a moment to look down. "Shot him in the head"

That made her heart flutter, she simply reached up and hugged him even tighter and kissed on his cheek. "Don't tell the others," She said in conspiratorial hushed whisper. "But even thought I really don't know you, you're my favorite"

"Erin," A groggy voice came from the opposite end of the hall. "What's this?"

Erin looked over her son's shoulder and saw her husband, he looked like he had just woken up dressed in his robe and his ruffled hair. "Uh, Hi Honey, I don't believe you've met my son Johnny? He just decided to stop by"

"As happy as I am for you," He smiled wearily and waved at Johnny. "You are aware of what time it is, and that it is very rude to decide to visit at this time"

Johnny nodded at his step father, he felt so strange thinking that. "Well I know, and I really didn't want to do this, I'm sort of on a leash with my Mother in Law"

"Say no more," Mark threw his hands up. "I know what you mean"

He laughed and looked back at his mother. "Where are my brother and sister?"

"They're at their friend's house, and now with this revelation I was going to call over there and ask if they could stay there for a little while," Erin sighed. "I mean it's not going to be easy to tell them about all of this anyway don't you agree?"

Upon hearing this Mark walked down the hall to meet his wife and step-son, he was very confused. "Did I hear this right? You've got some situation to tell the kids, I mean Erin you just told me a few hours ago and I can't wrap my head around it?"

"W-well…" Erin stuttered.

AN:/ The next chapter will be rather long just some fair warning. Please review.


	13. Memories and Actions

**Chapter 12 **

Jackie Hutchison had lived a strange life, she had gone from one of the most powerful and influential Hunters in the entire Huntsclan, to a disgraced reject living on Long Island in secrecy for years denying herself the life that she grew up with. When she was in that organization, she had never had a problem with those decisions that she made, but when she had her daughter things went downhill, and the very last act that she was assigned to do put the nail into her coffin. Jackie was supposed to kidnap a Dragon Child and subsequently murder the Child and take the corpse back to the home of those Dragons. And she couldn't do it, she couldn't bear to kill a child, and that choice had led to the disgrace of her family and her self imposed exile.

When Erin was born it made her happy, it made her value life, but her value of life had been tested not that long after the delivery of her first and only child. Her Husband was killed, and one of things that she regretted the most was the fact that Erin had never known her father, and she loved her daughter with the strength and energy of two parents. She had done that successfully for almost seventeen years, and she was told to murder a child, that forced her to leave Erin and the life. But her daughter had turned out to be a great person and that was the happiest thing that had ever happened to her, besides having Erin. When she learned why Erin had left the Huntsclan that had made her so angry that she considered storming the Huntslair and killing everyone she saw until she got to her Grandchild, and she wanted to take him away from that environment. But Erin knew that if she had done that then they would never stop looking for them, so she resigned herself into believing that the child would leave and just be a normal person. And today she had gotten that wish and she could not be more proud of her Daughter and Grandson.

In her basement she had box, upon box, upon box of things that she had when she was in the Huntsclan. And today's visit had caused her to go down there and bring every single one of them up. One of them contained a picture that she hadn't seen in a very long time, one that had just made her sob to death, it was a picture of her, Erin and her Husband when Erin was only a week old. It was the only picture that she had of the three of them together, the only picture and that racked her with pain and sadness.

She hadn't known how her husband died, she had only known that he was killed in a raid on a camp of Giants and his body was never recovered from that. There had been a rumor that the Giants had literally eaten the dead, and even to this day the thought of that just made her want to vomit. That picture had led to something else too, it was when she had come across his personal items. Jackie thought that she had gotten rid of that box for that sake of her own mental health, but she didn't, and she had made the serious mistake of going through them. And the picture was the only thing that she had saw, immediately she had put the lid on the box and pushed it away, that picture was the only thing that she had the heart to look at. And that heart was quickly broken.

**X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X **

**The home of Mark Harrison and Erin Hutchison**

"W-well" Erin stuttered.

Mark shook his head and narrowed his eyes, he was more shocked than angry, in fact the only thing that he was angry about was the fact that they had decided to spring this on them at the ungodly hour of two in the morning. Inhaling deeply, it immediately calmed him down and then he wore an expression of calm anxiety on his face, instead of concealed anger. "There's more too all of this isn't there?"

"Of course there is," a female voice answered from behind Erin and Johnny. "And it affects you two very much so"

He gave a questioning look to the woman as she emerged from the bathroom. "We haven't been introduced, you are?"

Rose walked up to stand next to Erin, she smiled, and then it hit Mark like a ton of bricks, she was one of the most gorgeous he had ever seen. He was of course was never going to tell his wife that, but his face betrayed his self control, he found that his mouth was hanging open and that earned him a punch in the shoulder from his wife. "Dear, pick up your tongue before I cut it off"

The other woman extended her hand. "Rose Long and FYI, don't do that in front of my Husband or hell cut more than your tongue off, but I'm flattered"

"Gee," Mark smiled sarcastically. "That's nice to know"

She smiled and nodded her head. "Isn't it, and by the way, I'm Johnny's mother in-law, he married my daughter, knocked her up at sixteen"

Johnny laughed nervously at the surprised look his mother gave him, and then he narrowed his eyes at Rose. "Thanks for telling them that, I was gonna wait to tell them that, but thanks Mrs. Long, you've made things great"

"Oh don't worry about it," Erin said smiling, a smile that looked as if she was forcing it onto her lips. "Your father and I had you when we were sixteen so…"

His mother in-law raised her hand. "I had Alyssa when I was seventeen"

Erin smiled and made a motion towards Rose. "See you're among people who've had kids before their twenty, not that it's ok but were not judging y-"

"Ok, not to interrupt this visit down the memories of teenage pregnancy, that might I add is something that you really shouldn't hope for," Mark said really wanting to know what the hell was going on. "But can we get on with this!"

"Well, first may I ask if Erin has told you all about shall we say the past, you know magical creatures and hunting them, that sort of thing?" Rose asked.

Mark nodded. "I thought it was a side effect of my medication, but I soon learned that all of its true, so this _is_ going to get complicated, right?"

"Oh yea," Rose smiled with a frighteningly calm manner. "So let's start out with this, you've been included in this problem because of Johnny's involvement with my daughter and thus my family, there's an evil being that's returned to the Earth and he has some grudge to wipe out my husband and his family, let's just call this being eh the Dark Dragon, do you get me?"

"Somewhat" Mark said, and that was really the only thing he found he _could_ say.

She nodded. "Ok, well, your two step-grandsons who are not only Johnny's children, but my daughter Alyssa's, are in immediate danger because of their mother, the Dark Dragon will not only be coming for my Husband, he was also be coming for _my_ children, and more than likely he'll try to kill everyone associated with the Long Family, that's just the first part, what do you think about all this so far?"

He didn't say anything at first, but his shock was more than evident by the size his eyes had grown, Rose could almost hear him choking on his own breath. "So our lives are in danger?"

"Very much so, yes" Rose responded nodding her head.

"And you plan on trying to stop this Dark Dragon thing?" Mark asked again.

Rose nodded again. "I and my Husband are going to put our best effort behind it, but he'll be doing a degree more than me because I just found out that I'm pregnant, but I'm good at fighting while in that state, did I shock you?"

In his mind Johnny simply laughed '_Damn right, you shocked everyone' _and then he blinked once. "What?"

"Yep," Rose nodded. "No more Cigarettes and Liquor for the next nine months"

Mark shook his head and waved his hand impatiently. "Congrats and all of that, get on to the second part"

"Oh that's right," She said glancing at Johnny who was clearly shocked, she knew she hadn't heard the last about this from her son in-law. "About a decade and a half ago, Erin and I developed a weapon, a nerve gas, that was designed to erode the Central and Peripheral Nervous System of a Dragon and it worked very successfully"

He was smart, but not in the matters of science. "Use more basic words if you will when you explain it again"

"Ok, we _mixed_ several gases and elements that when released into the air around a Dragon would, to explain it basically as you wanted, sort of melt your brain and spinal cord and cause you to die painfully, that's the best abridgment that I can give you" Rose said as her face relaxed back into a neutral expression.

"And you and Erin are going to try to use it on the Dark Dragon?" Mark asked raising his eyebrows.

Then she smiled again and looked at Erin. "He's smart, he's the keeper"

Erin simply returned her smile. "I know"

"Is there anymore before I can fully comprehend this?" He asked.

"Ah yes, I'm going to need all the help I can get, so I was going to ask both Erin and Jackie to help me fight the Dark Dragon," Rose said with a rather nervous smile. "I hope that doesn't interfere with anything you all have?"

"Are you kidding? I would love too, I'm kind bored with being a suburban house wife twenty fours of the day seven days a week," Erin smiled lightly touching her friend on the shoulder. "I already know I have to come to the Isle of Draco with you anyway"

What? She was going to make this decision without his decision, he was her Husband and what happened if she got herself killed or something like that. And besides, Mark didn't like the idea of her being chased by large, fire breathing apparently dark Dragons every minute. "Honey, I don't think we should be rushing into this strange idea, I mean Erin we have two kids to take care of"

"I have four who still are pretty young, and hell my daughter is going to be fighting right alongside me," Rose looked him slightly bewildered, and then she realized that this man had no idea about his wife and her abilities. "Are you aware, that your wife here, to my knowledge anyway, is the only Hunter in the Huntsclan who has ever killed a Chieftain Troll with just her legs"

Johnny smiled, that was certainly an impressive feat. "Really, how come I've never heard about you doing that?"

"Because, it wasn't exactly common knowledge," Erin looked at her son smiling brightly. "But to make a long story short, the big fuck tackles me and then when he tries to get away, I jump on him and wrap my legs around his neck and with a lot of strength I snap the neck"

He patted her on the shoulder. "And that's why I call you Mommy"

Erin laughed and looked over at Mark. "Mark I'm going to do this with or without you or your approval, and as a matter of fact, I'm going to tell the kids and I don't give a damn if you like it or not and, to add put the icing on the cake, I'm going to train the kids if possible"

That's one of the many things that he loved about his wife, he needed a companion not someone who was submissive like some of the girls that he had dated before he met Erin. He was still worried about what would happen if she did all of things that she said she would, but from what they were saying about what she could do, she could take good care of herself. And he was still worried about what the kids would think and what would happen to them now. "So," He paused. "How big was this eh ...Chieftain Troll that you took out?"

Erin walked forward and wrapped her arms around his neck. "He was about I would say 600 pounds? And what was it Rose, 15 feet?"

"Sixteen" Rose corrected very happy that she was able to get them both to come around to her side.

She smiled at her Husband. "And some big bad Dragon isn't going to scare me, so why don't you get dressed, you're coming with me"

"Honey I have work tomorrow" Mark smiled keenly aware that he really shouldn't be advancing with Erin when company was with them.

"No you don't," She told him giving him that '_I'll kill you if you do_' look. "Even if I have to call you in sick for the next two weeks"

"Two weeks?" Mark gasped.

Erin nodded. "That's right, two weeks, maybe longer"

**X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X **

**Manhattan New York, The Long Family Apartment **

Alyssa was nineteen years old, she was the American Dragon, the mother of two children and the wife of an adorably co-dependent Husband, who she adored with all of her heart. She was happy, loved, and probably an important thing next to love –especially to two young newlyweds- financially secure. She was so secure with money to the point where she didn't have to work, neither did her husband, and that was due to the trust that her father had set up and she was able to access it when she was eighteen. Her parents were the same way, they were so well to do that they didn't have to work, and she was so grateful that she lived under those circumstances. "Lyss, what'cha reading there, is it something I'd like?"

She really didn't think her father would like reading this magazine. "Daddy I don't think that you would be interested"

"Try me," He asked walked to sit next to her on the couch. "I'm always open to new situations"

Turning the page she bit her lip from holding back the laugh that was going to escape from her. "Cosmo, make your man and home happy"

To her surprise he didn't give her a nasty look, or a sarcastic one at that, infact he looked as if he was thinking about something. "You know I've never butted into your married life or the way you run your family, and I know _you_ run the family because you are your mother's daughter, but can I ask, do you need to make Johnny or your home happy? Are things going well?"

Closing her eyes, she swallowed and closed the magazine. "Ah God, Daddy …I guess," She looked down at ring on her hand. "They're great"

"You do remember that if you need me to do, I'll knock his teeth out to spice things up" Jake grinned.

Alyssa rolled her eyes. "Like you said I am mom's daughter, and I think I'm capable of doing that"

"Can I ask you something?" Her father asked in a whisper.

She nodded narrowing her eyes and mock scowling. "What? Do you want to know how many times your little girl gets it a week?"

"Ah no, I'd like to think that, _that_, doesn't happen with you two," Jake remarked raising his eyebrows. "I was gonna ask you about John's teeth"

That was the oddest anti-climatic response that she had been ever heard. "Oh, so it isn't just me, I feel like I have to wear sunglasses when he smiles"

"No it's not just you, I mean does he bleach them or something?" He asked.

Alyssa shrugged. "I don't know, but I bet you a thousand dollars you could see them as clear as day in a room with a black light"

**X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X**

**In the vehicle of Jake and Rose Long, In Route to East Hampton New York **

"Turn right onto Nostrand Avenue, and then listen carefully Rose take the first left onto Snyder," Erin directed from the backseat.

Rose adjusted her rear view mirror. "Damn it, every time Jake even gets into this side of the car it always is so screwed up"

"Get another car" She suggested rolling her eyes at her friends complaining.

She smirked. "Who needs two cars in Manhattan? Let alone one damn car?"

"You have a point" Erin smiled.

**X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X**

**AN:/ Jackie will meet them in the next chapter and then Alyssa and Jake will meet, Mark, Erin and Jackie and that's not all. Leave a Review please.**


	14. The Last Huntsmaster

Chapter 13

**X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X **

**Abandoned Huntslair Complex, Manhattan New York **

Dragons, they were the cause of it, and Rebecca Kay knew this, and she and her friends were the only thing standing between the Dragons and the pure extinction of the Huntsclan. Though they had never been fully ordained as Hunters, they were a part of the Huntsclan and as long as they survived, the Clan would go on, that was the important part. Even though she and the others were degraded to live this life, in the abandoned Huntslair in underground New York, they had set rules for the survival of the Huntsclan, never leave the Huntslair and if you did, you don't stay out for more than a day. Twelve of them lived in the complex itself, they maintained it, patrolled it and protected it, they never really understood why, but they felt the need to, because it was the last one, the Dragons had destroyed all of the others, expect this one. And Rebecca was the leader, or what she sometimes thought, that last Huntsmaster.

"Becky! Are you in here?" Daniel called to her.

She sighed. "Hunter Mills, you are not to address me as such"

"Oh shut up, we're twenty and everyone else is asleep," He said as the light panels flickered on. "No need to get all 'Huntsmaster' on me, you know that"

Bringing up her hand she ran it through her fiery red hair. "Alright you got me, what do you want, and before you say it no I will not share a bed with you…"

"Why not, I mean we are sort of in love and I don't know why we really haven't done it yet, can you answer me?" Daniel asked in a sort of whining voice.

Becky whirled on him and scowled. "Because I'm not that kind of girl who would screw someone before marriage ok, we are Hunters, we should act that way"

"As much as I agree with you about that _Hunter_ thing, we haven't hunted a damn thing in two years," He said. "It was only by luck that we escaped the Academy, and got in here to find that there weren't any Dragons so yea, we can be 'hunters' but Beck were only human and humans need to do that…"

Growling, Becky brought her hand and up punched him in the face, and then she made a dismissive gesture. With his pride wounded beyond salvation, he left her quarters. What was he thinking? She was not going to give up the rules and standards that the last Huntsman had established, Rebecca Kay was going to be Huntsclan until the day that she died. And hopefully she would see the complete destruction of the Dragons before that day happened, and maybe, just maybe she would play a role, or maybe she would be responsible.

**X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X **

**34 Miles away from the Home Jackie Hutchinson**

"Erin," Rose asked. "You never told me why you hated Paul so much"

Of course she was never going to tell her that, or anyone for that matter because it was something that she would like to forget. What had happened exactly was something that made her feel ashamed, because she was a Hunter and you weren't supposed to relent like that. But she had let him do those things to her, and put up with it for months after she had given birth. She didn't even want to think about those times, she was in a much better relationship. "Eh…if you don't mind Rose I wouldn't like to talk about it…"

Rose bit her lip. "Well I just wanted to let you know, after you disappeared, he was tore up for months, and he really just grew to be different, I think on some level, he really did love you, but I know you didn't love him, did you?"

"Of course I did," Erin snapped. "But, he was just really sick in the head…"

From the passenger seat, Johnny scoffed. "Tell me something I don't know, I live with the man for seventeen years straight, I know how he thought…"

Erin reached forward and put a hand on her son's shoulder. "And I'm very sorry you had to do that sweetheart, you have an idea of what I really mean"

"Mom, he didn't beat me or anything, he just was mentally abusive, was he that way to you?" Johnny asked scared to know this answer.

Her hesitation cost her, and she knew that she had blurted out the answer without really saying anything. Quickly taking back her hand from Johnny's shoulder, she placed it in her lap and looked over to her Husband. The look on his face was that of shock, and she could tell that the others were shocked too. Yes, Paul was physically abusive to her for the first eight months of Johnny's life, and that happened to be her last eight months in the Huntsclan.

"That son of a bitch" Rose growled gripping the steering wheel.

This was something that she didn't even tell her mother, and she told her mother everything, she didn't tell her mother because her mother would have tracked Paul down and killed him. To her surprise, she didn't hesitate, she didn't cry, she had no fear, she was calm and she decided to let it out. And by the time all of the things that Paul had done to her were in the open, a tensed silence had come over the car. "Does your Mom know about this?"

That had come from Mark who had an unreadable expression on his face, but she could see anger written somewhere in it, she looked at him and smiled grimly. "No, Mom would have tracked him down and I don't mean to get graphic here, but she would have castrated him with a dull butter knife…"

"Hell I would have done that," Rose said. "Why did you not tell me this then?"

Erin shook her head. "I thought you were perceptive enough to know that I was wearing a mask of make up to cover up the marks, god Rose I don't know why I never told you I just thought that it was none of your business"

"When did it happen last?" Johnny asked quietly seething at his information.

Looking down for a moment, she swallowed the lump in her throat and looked back up. "Two days before I left, and I will always remember exactly what he did to me, he slapped me when you were in my arms…"

"God Damn him, if I could ever bring someone back from the dead just to send them back in a more gruesome manner it would be him, I hate him even in death I hate him," Rose yelled. "I cannot imagine how that horrible man ever managed to procreate with someone like you"

"Relax Rose, It was twenty years ago, and he's dead, to put it frankly I hope he's burning in hell, but that doesn't excuse the fact that he's no more and you shouldn't get worked up over something that a dead man did" She said growing annoyed that this was continuing.

She frowned. "I guess you're right"

But she still seemed angry, and she really was pissed off, not at the late Huntsman however, but the thoughts that were now going through her mind at the moment. Paul had raised her Son in-law, and she wondered if he would ever turn out like that, and just the thought spun her into a dimension of pissed off that she had never been in. "Mrs. Long, are you thinking what I am like that, because if you are that is foolish, I would never do that, ever…"

"You know Johnny, if you ever do to my daughter what your father did to your mother, I will maim you with a blunt object and bury you alive in a pit of poisonous bugs, you go that?" She asked with calm edge laced in her voice.

Johnny blinked. "You sound like you've thought about it"

"Mr. Long and I have thought about it in great detail, not because of you but because of your father and we do that because we care about our kids more than anything" Rose said not losing that slight edge that she carried.

"Excuse me, but how many times have you threatened my son like that?" Erin asked from the back seat with evident irritation in her voice.

Both Rose and Johnny shook their heads. "Countless times," Rose said. "But that's either when I've been pregnant or angry, otherwise I don't do it, often"

"And right now you're pregnant right, we still haven't talked about that, Mrs. Long have you even told Mr. Long or Alyssa yet?" Johnny asked, curious.

Rose nodded her head. "Well I have confirmed it to them, I took a test earlier at your place, and it told I wasn't but I just took another and it told me I was, so Jake thinks I am and Alyssa is under the impression that I'm not…"

"Don't you think this is a bad time to be impregnated with Mr. Long's Child? I mean have you thought about that…" He stated trailing off with the sentence.

No, Rose hadn't thought about that part and now that she did, it did scare her. If FU and Haley were right, then the Dark Dragon wasn't going to stop until the descendants of Lao Shi and Jake were wiped out off of the face of the Earth. And one of them was now growing in her womb. "No, I didn't think about that, and you know what, I'm going to protect this kid, the best I can"

**X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X**

**Isle of Draco, Dragon Council Security Bunker, Medical Wing**

"What happened to the other scout?" Edward asked one of his attendants.

The woman shook her head. "Apparently, when he arrived, he kept ranting that a shadow demon attacked the other and killed him, the medics think that the Dark Dragon has done something to this one's mind, they've sedated him…"

The Dragon Council had been gathering in the Bunker's medical wing since the scout had been brought in and they were listening to what the doctors had to say about him. Apparently when he arrived on the Isle, he was suffering delusions that he was being attacked by the Dark Dragons minions, the Shadow Demons. The only conclusion that they had come to was that the Dark Dragon had somehow twisted their minds, and driven them into insanity. And this posed a problem for Pro Tempore Keeler, if the Dark Dragon had that ability, then they were all in danger. "Doctor, did he say anything before you sedated him?"

"Nothing really," The older woman responded. "He just kept saying 'he's coming, he's coming, and he's going to kill us all' just generally that…"

Edward sighed. "I need know everything he has to say, so can you wake him?"

"I'm afraid that I cannot do that, he needs his rest," The doctor said. "I can in a few hours, and I can put him under medication that should control his urges"

Cursing under his breath he turned to his aide. "Send a memo to General Long and inform him of everything that the doctor has said, everything"

The attendant bowed and walked out of the room, her place at his side was quickly taken by Councilor Nebroshka. Her face had grown pale at the sight of the scout. "Pro Tempore, I must say, I don't feel it's safe to leave the Isle of Draco, there is too much here that we, the Council, must protect, and if he does come to the Isle then he will have to fight all of us to take them…"

"Such as the Diamond of Draco?" He supplied.

Nebroshka nodded.

"Tell me, have you ever heard of very first Pro Tempore of the Council?" He asked, wondering why he was even saying these things too her.

Again she nodded. "Janus, he was a very powerful man"

"And have you ever heard of the rumor, that Janus and the Dark Dragon are one and the same?" Edward asked again.

Edward could have sworn that he heard the Russian Dragon choke. "I must say that, that thought is somewhat farfetched, that would mean that the Dark Dragon is over two thousand years old, I'm sorry but I just can't believe that…"

"Think about it," He said looking over at her. "Janus was never found, he was never buried, and no one ever found out if he had died or not, and just in case you don't know your own history, The Dark Dragon arose during that time"

Nebroshka gasped. "What spurred you to think of something like this?"

"Because of Pro Tempore Lao Shi," Edward said looking at the incapacitated scout on the bed. "He was convinced that Janus and The Dark Dragon were one in the same, and to be honest with you Sabrina, I totally agree with him"

**X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X**

**The Home of Jackie Hutchinson, East Hampton, New York**

When she had heard a car pull up in her drive way, she had immediately jumped up and looked out her window. She had seen this car earlier today, it was the car that the woman and her Grandson had come in. Swallowing her instinct to get a weapon she simply went to her front door and opened it. There would be no more secrecy when it came to these people, she just wasn't in the right emotional mood to have one right now. Stepping out onto her front porch, she shut her door behind her and walked forward to sit on the small flight of stairs. Rummaging through those boxes was still on her mind.

Rubbing her hands together, she lightly brought them up to her mouth and breathed on them. That was something that she had learned when she was on assignment and had no source of heat, she found that it was a good easy way to keep warm. She looked to the walk way that divided her yard, and saw four people, it was the woman Rose, her Grandson, her daughter and son in-law. It was hard to keep a strong face when she had been thinking about her husband, but this time, seeing Erin's face and picturing her Husband's face in the eyes of her mind, it was just too much. Tears began to run down her face.

"Mom," Erin said. "What's wrong, why are you crying?"

Jackie smiled while still crying. "Nothing sweetie, I was just going through some of your father's things, and I'm just remembering how much you look like him"

"Really, I thought I looked like you," She said looking at all three of her companions before looking back at her mother. "I mean I look just like you"

She smiled again. "You do, you've got my eyes and hair but your face looks just like his did, but yes you do still look like me, and you Johnny, you look almost identical to your grandfather, but just like your Mom, my hair, my eyes"

Erin walked forward and sat next to Jackie, she slipped an arm around her shoulder. "Mom are you ok? I have never seen you like this before…"

"Yes I'm fine, It's just I found a picture of the three of us together that I haven't seen since you were born," She looked over at her. "It's the only picture the three of us took together before he was killed, that's why I'm upset…"

That was surprising to Erin, had she really been doing that. "Why were you going through all of that, I mean, I have things that do that to me, but I don't just do it randomly, and for that matter, have I seen this picture of us together?"

Jackie shook her head. "No you haven't infact, I don't think you've ever seen a picture of your father, but I'm tired and cold so can you tell me why you are here at two in the morning disturbing an old lady's trip down memory lane?"

"That's a funny story Mrs. Hutchinson," Rose said, feeling slightly resentful that she didn't have a mother to do that with. "I know you know what the Dark Dragon is, and I know you know what he is capable of and what he's done before"

The older woman seemed to perk up at the name of the Dark Dragon, she looked at Rose, concerned. "Yes I do, what's happened?"

"Well, he's sort of returned to the Earth-" She stopped when Jackie's hand went up and made a gesture for her to stop or to halt her sentence.

Jackie narrowed her eyes. "Wait a minute, he wasn't on Earth before?"

"It's a long story, but to break it down, the Dragon Council and my Husband imprisoned him in a Vortex, and he has managed to break out and now he is coming for my family, and that includes your great-grandchildren" She said.

That was certainly a lot of information to take in, in just a few seconds, Jackie simply blinked at looked at Rose's face which was illuminated by the bright moon light. "He's threatening my Great-Grandchildren? That's all I heard…"

Uneasily, Rose took a step back and brought both her up hands up in a calming gesture. "Jackie, he is, and he's threatening my children, and I suppose there spouses as well, and that would include Johnny here"

This time, the older woman's voice was snarl. "You sure know how to push!"

"There's a reason I was the Huntsgirl," Rose said. "Honestly Jackie, the stories of what you did have been something of an inspiration of mine, and I know that if you help me and Erin do what we need to do, the Dark Dragon will be stopped, I don't mean to hero worship here, but you are sort of my idol"

Jackie chuckled, and then she smiled at Rose. "I haven't done any of that in years Rose, but from what I've heard from Erin here, you've done impressive things yourself, I couldn't have imagined doing everything you did and still living"

When she glanced at Mark, she laughed. "I assume you know, because you're not looking like you're about to drop dead of stroke something…"

"Oh yea I know Jackie, you know I keep listening to all of this and I keep thinking that Erin, Rose and Johnny here are all from another planet," He said smiling shyly at his mother in-law. "But I'm going to be supportive through this"

Jackie nodded. "I'll tell you the reason that you feel like they're the same alien from a different planet, They were all raised the same way, I was raised that way if not harsher, they were all raised to be smart, calculating, strong, fearsome when they need to be, and loving when they need to be. I should know, I raised one of them, and the other is my Grandson, Rose however I don't know…"

"I was told my parents were dead," Rose shrugged. "But I'm willing to accept the fact that that may be a lie, but I really have no way to find them even if I wanted too, but all of those other things, I was raise to be that way, ten times more if need be, my Uncle wasn't the nicest person on the block…"

The older woman began to smile. "I knew your Uncle, not well, but I worked with him on several assignments, and he was very dedicated, I can see it in you…"

"A dedication of psychotic proportions" Rose said with a grin.

Jackie nodded. "And so, I've decided to join you in your fight against the Dark Dragon, if you and the Dragon Council would accept me in their force"

"Now that you mention that, they've ordered me to bring both you and Erin to the Isle of Draco, and like you said I'm dedicated" Rose stated hoping that the other woman's mood wasn't going to shift suddenly.

"Good," Jackie said. "Because I was going to ask you if I could go there"

Rose smiled. "That's great, because we have to go, tonight, right now even"

**X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X**

**The Long Family Apartment, Manhattan New York **

When Jake had received the flash memo from the Isle of Draco, he had felt a cold child go up his spine. A pair of scouts had been sent to Hong Kong, and when they returned to the Isle, one was dead and the other had been driven crazy and he had been so convinced that he was being attacked by shadow demons. This was not good, things were now moving faster than he had hoped and he only hoped that he would have things ready to move against the Dark Dragon before the Dark Dragon moved against him. "Jake? What is it?"

He looked over to his side and saw Haley, apparently the loud noise that the memo service created had awoken her up. She started at him through glassy, red eyes, Haley must have been very tired. Handing the parchment over to his sister, he couldn't help but narrow his eyes in thought over what going to happen now. "Something new and very unsettling has happened"

**X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X**

AN:/ I was able to watch 'Homecoming' earlier, and I had an idea that struck me and I've decided to incorporate it into the story. I hadn't intended on writing survivors of the Huntsclan Academy into the story, but they fit into this new idea. Anyway, things will start to heat up in the next chapter when Jackie, Mark and Erin meet Jake and Alyssa, not to mention the Dragon Council. The Dark Dragon will make his first appearance. Erin and Rose learn that getting the nerve gas will be harder than they think, so tell me what you think.


	15. Huntress Hutchinson and Luong

**Chapter 14 **

Something in the wording of the message made her heart stop, the Council was under the impression that the entire Dragon population of the world was at risk. Apparently two scouts that they had sent to Hong Kong had been affected by powers that could only be the Dark Dragons, and on their return to the Isle, one of them was killed by Shadow Demons and the other was driven insane by the possibility that he was going to be attacked by them. The entire Council had decided that this effect could be repeated with all Dragons that attempted to get to the Dark Dragon, and they had ordered all Dragons to vacate out of China and parts of Asia. They just assumed that it was just too much of a risk to have anyone near where they thought he might be.

But that wasn't what made her heart stop, it was the thought of what had happened to those scouts, and that same thing happening to her son. The fear was simple, her son lived in Hong Kong, and he was a Dragon. She felt hot tears sting her cheeks, as the realization that her son was in more danger than he had ever been in. Sure living in a Communist Nation for twenty years where freedoms were heavily restricted had been dangerous to an extent. But this was a whole new level of danger for the boy, he hadn't even heard of the Dark Dragon, Haley wasn't even sure if he knew that he was a Dragon, but she knew. When he was an infant, and when he would go into his fits, he would change into a Dragon in an instant and then just turn back into a human. But Haley had never encouraged those powers, hell she never even told him about them, but they would prove to be a serious danger to him now. The Dark Dragon would find him, and kill him making him the first of Long Blood to be killed, and there wasn't a damn thing that she could do about it. "Oh my god, he's going to find my son"

"What?" Jake asked confused about where this thought had come from.

Haley nodded her head and wiped her cheeks. "My son, Luong, the Dark Dragon is going to find him and kill him and Jake I can't stop it, oh I'm a horrible mother"

"Two things, you named your son after Grampa," He said narrowing his eyes. "And how do you know this? Is Luong a Dragon? Because if he is then he'll be affected by his powers, and to make things worse, the Dark Dragon will know that he's a Long…"

"Yes he is, and now with this order from the Council, I can't even ask them to go in and get him and I left him there to die, oh my god!" She cried leaning forward and latching herself into her brother's chest, where she began to sob uncontrollably.

Bringing his arm around her shoulder, he pressed her tighter into his chest and patted her back. "I wouldn't give up just yet, if he's your son and a member of this family, then he'll find a way to survive, and when it comes to the going insane part, I think that's just an inherited trait that he got from you and your side, don't worry, Alyssa and I have it"

"I don't want to laugh right now," She said frowning. "I just want my son to be safe even if he hates me I just want to know that he's alright and that he's in a safe place…"

Jake fixed her with a questioning glare. "Why don't you just call him?"

"It's awful late, but I just realized that it's tomorrow over there," Haley said. "Will you let me borrow your phone, he doesn't know this number and he might answer for once"

Nodding he smiled. "You can use the one in the kitchen, and just toss Alyssa out of the there if you don't want her interfering or eavesdropping, tell I made her do it…"

"You do know that calls to China are very expensive" She said widening her eyes.

Jake nodded. "I know, but this is certainly worth the killer bill, take as much time as you want to do this, if my nephew isn't in danger, then just please make sure he isn't"

"You've never met my son Jake" Haley remarked getting up off of the couch.

"True," He responded. "But I have a feeling I'll be meeting him rather soon"

**The home of Jackie Hutchinson, East Hampton New York**

They were quickly approaching the deadline that Rose had set, they were supposed to be on the Isle of Draco in two hours, and it would take at least that time to get back to Manhattan. And then they were supposed to deal with the crap that the Council would deal to them then make it back by dawn to begin what they needed to do. Even after that, Rose still had some piecing together to do before she was ready to make her first move to the Nerve Gas. She needed to find someone that she wondered if she would even be able to get too without attracting the attention of the US Government. After all the man she needed worked for a Weapons Design firm for said Government, and if one of their researchers went missing, they would begin to ask questions.

"Does anyone have a Blackberry or a phone, or something that you can get a connection to the internet from?" Rose asked her three companions.

Now would be a time to start her search while they were waiting for Jackie to get a few things, Erin shook her head, Johnny shrugged and Mark nodded grinning at her. Rose returned that grin and practically jumped up and down. "Oh I love you, could you please look something up for me, it may take awhile, but if you don't want to-"

"I want to help," Mark said. "Just tell me what to look up"

She saw Mark pull his phone out of his pocket. "Alright, are you listening?"

Mark nodded.

"Ok, look up the following words, 'weapons' 'designer' 'government' 'Dallas Grey', and then you might have to look around for the right thing," She said clasping her hands together. "If you find something, I'll need a picture of the person and the name of the company that he works for, I know the location has to be in Washington D.C"

"Are you sure you should be doing this now?" Erin asked from behind her.

Rose spun to face her friend and son in-law, they were sitting side by side on the front steps of Jackie's porch. Nodding her head emphatically, she raised her eyebrows. "By the time we get back from the Isle of Draco, I'm sure it will be like five in the morning and then we need to get started in finding the cowardly ass, we need to find him"

"Five in the morning, Rose, I didn't sign on to be working in ungodly hours" She said.

"I didn't either," She responded shaking her head. "But I was sort of forced into this, about twenty years ago when I and my idiotic husband decided to have a daughter"

Rolling her eyes, she turned to her side to face her son. "And you just had to marry that daughter? You didn't marry the daughter of some nice rich people normal people?"

"Well I kind of did, they're not normal of course, but they are rich I suppose" He shrugged and looked down at his feet to somehow take the pressure of her eyes off.

She looked back at Rose. "That explains the Mercedes I guess"

"Don't ask," Rose said. "I just need to have everything ready, because when we get back from the Dragon Council I don't plan on taking a nap, I plan on getting started"

"And the first act is finding Dallas Grey?" Erin asked.

Rose nodded. "He has the blueprints like I told you at your house, and if I'm lucky he knows where the weapon that we never detonated is, that'll be very useful"

"Ok Rose, just so I'm clear, what makes you think that the weapon has held up in the almost two and a half decades since we built it?" Erin asked sweetly mockingly smiling.

"Did you have to say that," She frowned. "I really don't want to think about that"

Erin shrugged. "Just asking, but I said I'd help and I plan on it, just plan on me being a cranky bitch when I don't get my eight hours of sleep"

"Likewise" Rose smiled.

**Hong Kong, China, the summit of Victoria Peak**

He could almost smell the Longs in the air, and from what he had taken from the two servants of the Dragon Council's minds, there were a lot of them now. And what had surprised him was that his old friend Lao Shi was now dead, how shameful, but his grandchildren were still around, and now his great grandchildren. That had brought a smile to his face, the more that he could take from the Earth, the better, and he would take his time with the Long Family. And then he would take over the Magical World, and the Human World, and then restore it to the way it was when the Dragons ruled the world. The Dark Dragon had that ability, and he had the power to accomplish that.

Taking in a deep breath, he sat cross legged in his human form at the summit of this mountain, foreign feelings coursing through his body the entire time. It had been a _very_ long time since he had transformed into his meek looking form, but he knew that he would need to do it, no one left alive knew his real identity and he would be able to do whatever he wanted in the magical world in this form. The last person who knew who he _really_ was, died more than nineteen hundred years ago, by his own hand for that matter. He smiled from ear to ear, things were going exactly how he wanted them to go. And any moment now, the _entire_ Dragon State would be at its highest alert, ever.

**Manhattan New York, The Long Family Apartment **

Alyssa had excused herself from the kitchen to let her Aunt make her call to her son in China, of course that didn't help her curiosity. She felt somewhat guilty that she was doing this, but she couldn't help it and she had hidden just outside of the kitchen in earshot of Haley. This was something of an eavesdropping technique that she had learned from her mother, and now it was finally paying off. "Hi, Lu, it's me"

She sounded so weak, scared for that matter. "Look I know you don't want to talk to me, and you can hate me all you want to, but I just needed to know your safe"

"I'm in the states with my brother and his wife," She said. "I just got in here a few hours ago, something is about to happen and they needed to be forewarned..."

Alyssa frowned, what did that matter to her cousin? She was his mother, she didn't answer to him. "You remember what I told you about my side of our family?"

"I know you don't want to think about that and I know you don't really want to believe in it but its real, and someone is now targeting members of our family, someone very powerful and he will stop at nothing to kill me and my brother, and all of our children, and like it or not sweetheart, you fall in the second category" She said.

That made her laugh quietly, was he so ashamed of Aunt Haley? "How do I know this? You remember when I showed you what the family secret is?"

"Look I'm sorry if I made you wet yourself son" She said with humor in his voice.

Alyssa had to bite her lip. "Yes that's how I know, he's there, in Hong Kong, and you remember Victoria Peak? I'll bet you money that he is there, and when he learns that you are there, he will kill you, and I just wanted to let you know that…"

"You actually believe me?" She could hear Haley gasp.

"Well you know I just want you to be safe even though you couldn't give a damn about me son," She said quietly. "Son, Son you need to calm down, I worried sick, the people that have been around that evil person have been attacked by his …soldiers and the ones that have survived have gone insane, now are you willing to trust me son?"

She closed her eyes and leaned closer to hear. "Thank you, now are you in a position to get out and get to my house? Because there's something there that might help…"

"Good," Haley said. "Now there is some money, and you'll be able to get a plane ticket"

"Honey you said that you were going to trust me" She said.

Alyssa could tell that she seemed to be growing more hopeful, it was clear in her voice.

"Alright, so you'll do it?" She asked.

Haley sighed loudly and happily. "Ok, I want you to come here to New York, you'll need your passport, and I've kept it, it should be in my dresser in my bedroom…"

"You need to get on the next flight to JFK," Haley said. "We can protect you here, and when you get here there are a few things that we need to discuss…"

"That's an understatement Lu" She said with a laugh in her voice.

"So you are coming, this isn't some joke to get me to leave you alone?" She asked.

She heard her Aunt sigh again. "Oh thank god, thank you, alright well I guess I'll see you when you get here?"

"Alright, I love you son, bye…" She spoke in something of a croak and whisper.

Then she heard the phone beep, and she knew that it had been turned off. And then she heard Haley sigh. "I heard you breathing there a few seconds ago Alyssa, you can stop hiding now, I know that you listened in and I want to talk with you now"

Alyssa couldn't help but thinking of something she heard earlier, and it made her giggle to even think this phrase.

'_Aww man'_

_

* * *

_

**AN:/ I thought it would be kind of funny that Haley named her kid after Lao Shi, and just in case you don't know that's his name Luong (look it up) Anyway things will start to get hot in the next chapter, please leave a review, you kind reader.**


	16. Secrets, Dallas Grey and Motherly Wrath

**AN:/ Just a little warning so it doesn't offend anyone, there is a lot of cursing and some violence in the last part of the chapter, so if curse words and violence offend you, I do suggest that you skip this chapter. If you eat it up, then I think you'll be entertained. Oh and to quell my own paranoia, the first section that has to do with the Government, it is **_**fictional**_**, and if it is true it is purely **_**coincidental**_**, do you see those two words big brother? **

* * *

**Chapter 15 **

**Washington D.C****, Selxia Weapons Corporation, Office of Bureau Manger Dallas Grey **

He was rich, powerful and attractive to women, he had a wife, a child and Dallas Grey thought that his life couldn't get any better. But that was until this morning, when he received a call from the Department of Defense and he had almost fainted at the offer. The US Government was offering him, not the Selxia Corporation, but him, a Three Hundred Million Dollar project to design a new line of automatic fire arms for the Military. And what was good about that offer was the fact that the Government, had offered in compensation an additional Seventy Million Dollars to accept. But all he would have to do was leave Selxia, and he had a feeling that he knew why. In the years since he had come to Washington to work for the Company, he had built the reputation as one of the best weapons designers in the world. And perhaps the Government had wanted him with them and not with some private corporation that could sell its talents and business to any paying country with a problem against said Government.

Dallas would eagerly accept this offer, if he made this deal then he would secure his future and that of his children. And there was perhaps another reason that he wanted to accept, he missed the structure and order of a system, like there was when he was young and fresh in the Huntsclan. Every time he thought about that time in his life, it caused him to sigh, he wanted to forget those times in his life and by doing this, by meeting a woman and having a kid he was sure to. But it hadn't done anything to make him forget of the life that he had left behind a long time ago, infact it made him think about it every day. He had gone from designing weapons that would kill Giants and Dragons, to designing gun's that would be used to silence the enemies and the presumed enemies of the United States.

He didn't have a problem of course with that, there was always a few million dollars to be made in designing Weapons, Dallas didn't chose a side in a conflict, he simply took advantage of the time by doing what he did best. He wondered when the thoughts of the Huntsclan would leave his mind, and he wondered when he would totally forget them and embrace his new life. To be honest with himself he doubted that he would ever, ever forget about all of the things that he had learned.

Working late in his office, he let out an exasperated sigh of stress, he had told his wife that he was buried up to his neck in work and that he probably wouldn't be home until the early morning. But he wasn't working at all, he was simply trying to debate if this offer was the right one to accept, he would be working for the Government, and if he had to say so, he would be a very prominent and important asset of the Government. Then again, if he stayed here at Selxia he would be taking in twenty five percent commissions on multimillion dollar assignments. It was massive amounts of money that he could make, and he would have access to materials to build weapons that he never had in the Huntsclan. But with the Government, he could have any resource that he wanted, and the Government would make sure that he received it.

This was just so damn hard to do sometimes.

* * *

**Manhattan New York, Abandoned Huntslair Complex, Data File Safe Room. **

Every now and then, Rebecca Kay would come into this room and familiarize herself with the greatest Hunters that had ever been in the Huntsclan. Her course at the academy that dealt with the history of the Huntsclan had been interrupted when the Dragons had slain the Huntsman, and when she and her friends came here to the only safe place that she knew, Rebecca had taken it upon herself to learn about these people. And she one day hoped that she could become like some of the greatest, Hunter Mellissa Hannagan who in 1947 had slain two Dragon's by herself at the age of nineteen. Or Senior Huntress Jackie Hutchinson who had killed a Dragon Councilor in hand to …claw combat in a battle plain that was set on fire, that was one of the real impressive feats that she had read.

There was another person that had really impressed her as well, but this one was strange for her to read at best. The Huntsgirl, and more specifically the last Huntsgirl, who had made the mistake that had disgraced her name forever. She had gotten pregnant by a Dragon, and she had betrayed her heritage and life for that abomination and the father of that abomination. A part of her felt sick by even reading the highlights of her career and that of her personal file, but she didn't care, she wanted to learn those things to better herself, so when the time came that she needed to do these things, then she would know how the best of the best did it.

"Computer, pull file image XfX195," She said to the computer. "And magnify image"

She had been going deeper into the Huntsgirl's past purely out of curiosity, when she was a child and her training, the images where interesting. Her infancy was something that had taken months to find, there wasn't much there expect a record of her birth and a few documents that she needed for the American Government. But she had finally struck gold in a file and a few images buried in the personal documents of the Huntsman before Huntsman Sindacco. These images were of the hospital that the Huntsgirl was born in, there were images of the Huntsgirl's parents, records of the parents and an image of the Huntsgirl's wrist a few moments after she was born. That surprised her, she was under the impression that the Huntsgirl had been the Huntsman's niece, but if these records were correct and real. Then Huntsgirl was taken from her parents when she was an infant, the Huntsgirl was impure.

She wasn't of Hunters Blood, she was a measly human who had received the gift of the mark by pure coincidence. And just reading all about that impure 'Hunter' had left a bad taste in her mouth. Closing off her link with the Data Outlet, she closed her eyes and spit on the ground.

* * *

**Manhattan New York, The Apartment of the Long Family**

"What did you hope to gain by spying on my conversation?" Haley asked with her hands on her hips, she had the look of a mother who was lecturing an impetuous teenager of hers.

Alyssa looked down. "Look I really don't know you, but you're my Aunt you're my dad's sister and I should have respected your privacy, and even so, I'm not a child, you can't punish me"

Moving her hands from her hips to cross around her chest, she smirked at the young woman and looked as if a scoff was about to escape her lips. Raising an eyebrow she was still digesting how smart mouthed she was. "Excuse me? First of all, you are still a kid honey, you're just not living at home anymore, and second of all, would you listen to me if I was your mother?"

"Can I speak freely Aunt Haley?" Alyssa asked with a laugh on her voice.

Haley nodded. "I have the inclination that this is some sort of smart ass remark?"

"You bet," Alyssa smiled, and she brought up her hand and raised three fingers. "Three things, number one, I'm not a child anymore, second, if you were my mother, if you were anything like my mother than yes I would listen to you, but you are not, and frankly Aunt Haley, my mother could kick your ass up and down the street, and third I'd been meaning to talk to you, or more chew you out, and I have been waiting half of my life to do this, since I found out what you did"

She was expecting this, she had already gotten some from Jake and now she was about to get some from her niece. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she cleared it and looked back up at Alyssa. Haley wanted it to get out. "Alright, toss it at me little girl, I won't interrupt"

"Fine," Alyssa spat with anger in her voice. "And just so you know, my dad told me that I should be respectful too you, but I'm not going to give respect to some Bitch who wasn't earned it, you turned your back on this family all because of who we where, all because Grandpa got the shock of his life and walked out on you, you went to China and buried your head up your ass! I am sorry that you have daddy and mommy issues, but what you did is unforgivable!"

Haley was still, her breathing was steady, and that meant that she was very angry. Then she saw her brother standing in the doorway of the kitchen, his mouth was gaping and his eyebrows were furrowed in shock. "Alyssa Therese Long-Sindacco you will shut your mouth!"

She spun on her heels. "I'm sorry Daddy, but I will not be brought to heel because you don't want to tell her the truth, I do not live in his house, you are no longer able to tell me what to do and I _will_ tell this bitch what I think of her, she is not my Aunt, she isn't worthy to be family"

"Lyss you shut up!" Jake snapped, anger flaring on his face.

Haley held a hand up to her brother. "No, infact Jake, I want you not to interrupt again, I want to hear all of this, and I'll be perfectly honest with you why, I think I deserve it for what I did…"

"But-"Jake was cut off by the glare that his sister had fixed him with.

Then he just shook his head in amazement and closed his mouth with a sigh. Haley looked to her niece and scowled. "Please continue with the complement fest"

"Gladly, infact let's start with mommy and daddy," She mocked with an imitation of a pouting sad face. "Your Dad, who I will not even recognize as my Grandfather was a slimy piece of crap, he abandoned his family, and what astounds me is the fact that you loved him and when he left that caused you to hate your mother's family, all because of that piece of shit…!"

"I did not love him, I hated him then, and I hate him now" She said growling lowly.

Alyssa scoffed. "Not from what I heard, and you want to know where I heard that from, Grandma herself, I will always remember it, because just the thought of your dad and you made her drink and she told me this in a drunken rant! You loved that man and you hated your mother and the gift that her family provided, you loved the man who walked out on your family more than the woman who had carried the damn thing! I cannot understand that!"

"Wait a second," Haley said holding a finger up. "My mother told you this? When?"

She smiled cockily. "Yep she did, when I was Nine years old, about six months before she got a cancer, and nine before she died, are you happy about that? Because of you and your dad, she started smoking and that caused her to bobsled to her grave, because of you! Because how rude, and inconsiderate you were, your mother loved you, she thought _you _didn't and she went to the grave thinking that you hated her, are you proud of yourself, you selfish bitch!"

By that part of her rant, she had moved so close to Haley that she could feel her breath on her cheek. Alyssa scowl deepened. "And you know what? We all think this, those of us who know, I know that if my mother were here she'd be telling you the very same thing, and she wouldn't give a damn that your brother is her husband, and she would get so angry, she would slap that arrogant look off your face, count yourself lucky that she isn't here right now"

Alyssa turned and looked at her father and for the first time in a long time, she sent him a shamed stare. "As I see it, my mother and I are the only ones with the balls in this family, and we are the only ones with the balls to tell you that you are indeed a Bitch!"

"Alyssa? Where is all of this coming from?" Jake managed to choke out in his shock.

She narrowed her eyes. "The example you've set, you just want to bury all of the shitty things that have happened to you, and you don't want to confront them, but you know what, I'm doing it, because it affected me too, I loved my grandmother, and I'm just seeing to some justice"

"_Justice_, you think that this is_ justice_?" Haley laughed from behind her.

"I do infact, it's justice for the woman who raised you, who loved you, for the woman who you turned your back on, to go to China and have some bastard just to get your thoughts of your family whom you betrayed" Alyssa said in a low threatening voice.

She wouldn't take any more of this, she wasn't going to take having her only child being called a bastard on the chin. Unfolding her arms she put them on her hips and stepped closer to the younger woman, she had fire in her eyes, and she wanted Alyssa to give her a reason to just punch her in the face. "Go on Honey, say that again nice and clear so I can hear it"

Jake sighed and closed his eyes, in an act of frustration he rubbed the bridge of his nose. This was not going to end well, his daughter had all the temper, abilities and strength of her mother, and his sister was just as lethal. Shaking his head in disappointment, he wished Alyssa would just have listened to him so this wouldn't have happened. "I said, you went to China and got knocked up with a bastard just to get your mind away from the family that loved you…"

Growling, Haley bared her teeth and clenched her fist, and then it happened, the thing that Jake was expecting to happen, but not from Haley, but from Alyssa. Jake blew out a sigh when that fist connected with his daughter's face, and then he was pissed off. Alyssa might have been way out of line but you did _not_ attack his kid, especially his first born and he didn't give half a damn that this was his sister who had done that, just as he was going to put Haley down, he heard something drop from behind him. Turning, he saw his wife standing motionless, the bag that she had taken with her to get Erin and Jackie was now laying on the ground under the unclenched fist that had been carrying it. Jake almost wanted to cower when he saw Rose's face turn from a shocked, disbelieving, gaping look, to a very fiery scowl. He had seen that look many times and he knew that Rose was feeling murderous feelings. And he pitted his sister, she was going to be on the business of Rose's wrath, and even though he wanted to protect her from the people that were judging her, he knew he couldn't from Rose. She felt the same way about their kids, and she was not going to let something like that go unpunished.

Not bothering to look at him, she strode right into the kitchen as if he wasn't even there, he saw that both of her fists were now clenched. Alyssa gripped her nose and watched with a slight smirk as her mother walked right up to Haley and delivered a right hand into the other woman's jaw. That knocked Haley right to the ground, and then the former Huntsgirl stood tall over Haley, the angry scowl still plastered on her face. "I didn't hear this whole argument, but the part I saw got you _that_ Haley, and I know you can hear me, I don't care if she told you the truth about what you have done to your family or what she called your son, because I would have told you the same thing I don't care if he's my husband's nephew, and now you know the one thing you do _not_ do, you do not _fuck_ with _my_ kids, you do not _attack my_ kids, or you'll get the same thing back but it'll be ten times worse, do you hear that Haley? Did I manage to knock you out?"

By that time, Haley had managed to raise her head up, and then Rose got her response. Haley spit in her face in disgust, and then the fallen woman was starting to brace herself back up. All Rose did was smile as she wiped the saliva off of her face, then she turned to Alyssa while bringing her fist up and cracking it. "I'm gonna enjoy doing this"

* * *

**AN:/ This is exactly what I meant by heat up, uh the next chapter will partly focus on Alyssa, Rose and Haley fighting each other. Then the other four characters (Erin, Johnny, Jackie and Mark being witness to this) meet Jake, his daughter and sister. And then to the Dragon Council they go. Anyway leave a review and tell me what you think about these new turn of events, lol. **


	17. First Impressions, and Marital Spats

_**AN: I would like to make an announcement to regular readers of the Anything and Everything Series, I have come up with the plot to the much debated about sequel to this story. It came to me in a dream, and it seems like the perfect way to wrap up this story series. There wasn't going to be a sequel because I couldn't think of anything to be the plot. And it really hadn't hit me that I had already begun to write the plot and the villain, but I realized it, in a dream. So when I realized this I began to write the premise to myself and I read it, and it was perfect it was in perfect cohesion. I've already begun to write the backgrounds of new characters and the course of the plot, I'm so excited that I might just burst. Now if you're saying to yourself that a third sequel is excessive, I do agree with you, but I couldn't pass this up, I've always wanted to write this because I never got the chance in the other three stories including this current one. But this universe will die after the next story, I don't think I can possibly keep doing it, but I'll cross that bridge when I come too it. So enjoy this update of Anything and Everything 3! And be sure to leave a review like a good reader. **_

* * *

**Chapter 16**

When Johnny opened the door to his in-law's apartment to lead his mother, stepfather and grandmother into it, the sounds of screaming and smashing objects filled his ears. As they passed into the living room, he was surprise to find that his mother in-law was pulling his aunt in-law around the room by her _hair_. It was strange to him, he knew that Rose was violent, but to openly do this to her husband's sister right in front of him seemed like a new level. He found his father in-law and wife standing in the doorway of the kitchen watching the fiasco with morbid curiosity. Turning around, he looked at the three strangers and put on an amazed face. "Well, Mom, Grandma and Mark, these are my in-laws!"

Alyssa turned at the sound of her husband's voice, and she gasped at the sight of the three new people. "Oh my god, Johnny we didn't expect you back"

"Your Mom drove us back here, when she came up here first didn't you expect us not that far behind," Johnny said looking disappointed. "And I must say Alyssa, this is one hell of a way to make first impressions, speaking of which dear, I want you to meet a few people, Alyssa Sindacco meet Erin Hutchison, Jackie Hutchinson and Mark Harrison, my Mom, Grandma and Step Dad"

She smiled at the sight of the two women and the man standing behind Johnny, she could tell that the two women were definitively related to Johnny and as for the man, she thought that her mother in-law had impeccable taste when it came to finding attractive men. The older woman greeted her first, she smiled at her and bowed her head. "You must be Jackie, I've heard a lot"

"All good things I suppose?" She asked returning Alyssa's smile, her attention was obviously torn between her granddaughter in-law and the fight.

Shrugging she laughed. "You threatened to cut my mother into pieces, which as you can see by what she's doing to my _Aunt_, would have been an incredible feat if she didn't manage to take a few pieces you herself:

"That's your Aunt? Why is she doing that to your aunt?" Jackie asked shocked.

"She punched me in the face," Alyssa said seriously. "Right in front of her and my father and you may know her or you may not, but _that's_ how she reacts"

The other woman to the left of Jackie laughed. "You're mothers always done that ever since I've known her, hi, I'm Erin, and I guess I'm your mother in-law"

"And I've heard even more about you," She said taking the hand that Erin had extended and shaking it. "I just wanted to say, your son is an incredible man"

Erin smiled and nodded. "That's what I hear, and speaking of which, if someone did _that_ to my own kids, I'd be doing what Rose is doing, and since you're my kid in-law, do you want me to go over there and clock her one for you?"

"Actually, you know, as much as I would love to see that, I think my mother has already gotten back at her for punching me," Alyssa smiled and looked to the man who was standing behind her mother in-law. "And you are?"

"Mark, Mark Harrison," The man smiled extending his hand to her and taking it back when Alyssa shook it. "Under the law, I would be your step father in-law"

Alyssa smiled and laughed. "Never had one of those, it's nice to meet you"

"Alyssa, I think your dad needs help!" Johnny snapped from her side.

She turned and saw as her father who had picked her mother up and had tossed her on his shoulder was now being kicked in the stomach by her mother in protest. Shaking her head, she looked to her husband and sighed. "You know what she did to me? She punched me in the face because I called her out!"

Johnny's hand went up to her face and lightly caressed her nose. "I can kind of see where it happened, if she didn't break your nose, than she knocked something out of alignment or something like that, does it hurt?"

"Not as much as Aunt Haley is hurting right now," She said looked back to the scene and saw that her mother had gotten her way off of her father and she was now attacking Haley again. "I guess I should go help, shouldn't I?"

He nodded with a smile. "Yes, I think it would be wise, before Rose kills her"

"What a shame that would be" Alyssa mumbled begrudgingly.

* * *

"Say you're sorry Bitch and I'll stop knocking out your teeth," Rose yelled as she punched Haley in the jaw again. "I don't think you can afford dentures!"

Haley was having a hard time remembering how this fight had started with her punching Alyssa to Rose beating the crap out of her. It was stupid to doubt Alyssa when she had told her that her mother would react this way, god was she wrong. Even in the middle of the beating that the older woman was giving her, she was sure that she had lost a few teeth. With the last outburst of strength that she thought she could muster, she rammed into the torso of Rose, and the Huntsgirl hit the wall with a loud bang. Her momentary victory was short lived however when she felt Rose's legs kick hers from out under her, in a nasty roundhouse kick. And as she staggered back, she felt the strong arms of her brother encircle her around the stomach and hold her back from Rose. She opened her swollen eyes, and saw the same sight with Alyssa and her sister in-law. Maybe this would end now.

"Let me go damn it! She punched you in the face and do you think that I'm gonna let her get away with it!" Rose growled her eyes narrowed at Haley.

Alyssa had to tighten her grip around her mother to keep her locked it. "Mom, Mom I think you've done enough, you've punished Haley enough for today…"

"This isn't over you little cow," Rose shot at her sister in-law. "You don't hit one of my kids and get away with it, I swear to god I'll beat you have to death one day"

Jake scowled at his wife. "I think you've already done that! Look, I'm pissed at her to for doing what she did, but she's my sister, and I'm not going to let you do this"

She shot her husband the same glare, if not a more viscous one, and with a heavy grunt she broke out of her daughter arms. Rose had made it half way to Haley before the sound of her 'name' being called filled room. Standing in the hall to the bedrooms, was her oldest son, DJ, he was watching this entire situation with all the curiosity that a three year old could muster. "Mommy? W-What's this?"

Rose opened her mouth to say something but she didn't, then she looked over to Jake who gave her a nod and she gave him the same nod before approaching the hall and DJ. Putting her best face on, the look in the little boy's face made most of her anger subside, she smiled and picked him up. "Uh, nothing…Mommy will come tuck you back in, that sound good?"

He nodded and wrapped his small arms around her neck. "I heard a loud noise"

"Well that lady in there, she knocked me into a wall," Rose explained as she crossed the threshold into his bedroom, bringing up her foot, she closed the door lightly behind her. "But I kicked her butt, she's really been acting bad, she's hurt your daddy, and hit Alyssa, but I got her back"

The boy frowned at that, and that frown turned into a scowl quickly, Rose was amazed to find that her son had inherited her scowl. "I'm glad you kicked her butt, no body hits 'lyssa, did you kick her butt pretty good?"

Rose laughed, the boy had been listening to her too much. "I kicked her butt sideways and up and down, I think I even knocked a few of her teeth out"

"Good!" He smiled and reached forward to hug his mother around her neck.

She leaned forward to kiss him on the forehead. "Yep, really good, good night baby, if you need anything just come and find me or daddy, understand?"

DJ smiled and affirmed his answer with a drowsy nod. "Yea Mommy"

Smiling she straightened her posture and sighed, then she turned on her heels to depart the room. It was time to go back in there and face that bitch, she didn't care what her husband thought, Haley had crossed a line that you never crossed with her. Rose smiled to herself, maybe if she was lucky then she would be able to collect all of Haley's teeth, she sure that a fight would start again.

When Rose had made it back into the living room, she saw her battered sister in-law sitting on the couch with an icepack to her face. And what made her blood boil was the fact that Jake was helping her, all of the anger that had subsided with the sight of her son began to race to the top again. Just when she felt that Mount Rose was going to blow, she felt her Daughter's hand on her shoulder. "Mom? Was DJ ok?"

She turned and smiled. "Yea, when eh…Haley drove me into the wall, that bang must have woken him up or something, but I got him to go back to sleep"

"Are you ok?" Alyssa asked.

Rose nodded. "I'm great, but I think if your father get's one inch closer to her than I am gonna kicks his ass ten times harder than I did hers, and by the way, what the hell started all of this? I know she didn't punch you out of the blue"

"I sort of heard her talking to her son," Alyssa admitted. "I eavesdropped on her conversation, and she caught me and then she tried to lecture me like she was you, and that kind of ticked me off because she was trying to act like you"

Rose cocked her head sideways at her. "Then you brought up the whole parents splitting up because of the magical powers thing right?"

She nodded.

"I would have stopped with that, I didn't hear the whole thing but the part about you calling her son a basterd," Rose said fixing her daughter with an amused stare. "I know if someone called my child that I would have done that, but she did that to my child, _my _kid, and I don't give a damn what she feels"

"I love you mom" Alyssa grinned embracing her mother tightly.

Smirking she patted Alyssa on the back. "I love you too Honey, so did you get to meet our guests?"

"Yes I did, somewhere between the point where you drove your knee under her mouth and when you started hitting her in the mouth," Alyssa said still wearing that smile. "Erin even offered to come over and join you…"

Rose grinned. "I don't think Haley would still be alive if that happened"

She nodded in affirmation, and turned to look over her mother's shoulder, she was amazed how little attention they had been paying to their three guests. To that point, she was embarrassed that this was the first impression that she and her family had made on them. "Do you think we made a bad first impression?"

"Eh," Rose shrugged. "With Jackie and Erin? No, they're just as violent as me, and as far as Mark goes, I don't think tonight can get any weirder for him…"

Before Alyssa could respond to her mother, she saw at of the corner of her eye, the form of her father approaching them. She turned her head to look at him, and she could tell that he was still upset with her over a few things that she said before the violence started, good, she meant them. Scoffing, she turned and walked towards the three guests, she'd let her parents talk with each other.

"Rose," Jake said sternly. "We need to talk"

Rose turned and not only frowned at him, she scowled at him. "That we do"

"Shall we go into the bedroom?" Jake suggested.

* * *

"You've got a lot of nerve telling me that I was wrong for giving Hayley what she deserved Jake," Rose said putting her hands on her hips. "I sat and listened to all of the shit that she put you and mother threw, and that was just the icing on top, she punched my _daughter_ in the face, I had plenty of reasons…"

Jake shook his head in irritation. "You just spent the last fifteen minutes beating my _sister _to death, and you know what, I'm just as angry over what she did to Alyssa but that is no excuse for what you did to her, god sometimes I wish I had never even-"

"Say it," Rose smiled. "Sometimes you wish you never even met me"

He didn't mean that, it was just something he said in anger. "Rose I didn't mean to say that"

She crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head. "The hell you didn't, Now that you say that Jake, sometimes _I _wish that I'd just killed you and gotten it over with, and sometimes I wish that I had been able to stay here and teach Alyssa that you didn't have to throw your life away from some _stupid guy_! The mistake I made, I can't believe you would take her side over your wife and daughter"

"Is that what you think you did, you threw your life away for me?" Jake asked, now he was the one who was hurt.

Rose scoffed. "Yes I did, I made the mistake of _talking_ to you in school, and I got caught in, and if I would have just ignored you my life wouldn't have changed and right now, I'd probably be the Huntsmaster and you'd be dead"

"Look how that turned out Rose," He said frowning. "This is more than just about Haley isn't it, you've got a problem with me and I want to hear it now…"

She shook her head. "No I didn't have a problem with you, it's the fact that you would defend that bitch out there for what she did to you and your mother, if DJ hadn't come in there I would have tore her up, I would have killed her and there wouldn't have been a damn thing that you could do, I'm gonna go talk to our guests who you so happily ignored, and I expect you to set up some way to get to the Isle of Draco, and until you apologize for you shit, we have nothing left to say to each other, oh but I do have one thing left to say, it'll make you feel good for taking my side over hers"

"And what is that?" Jake asked.

"I'm pregnant with your_ sixth_ child, enjoy" She smiled smugly before turning to the door.

With that she stormed out of the room slamming the door in her wake, Jake frowned and looked down, he felt like an asshole. He didn't regret meeting Rose, he didn't regret the life that he had built with Rose. But in his anger, he had made her feel like he did, and in doing so, he possibly exposed a fault in their marriage. Did she just say those things in anger or where they thoughts that she had? What did he possibly do to make her think that? And on top of that, he was going to have another kid. Hopefully Rose and he could make up soon so that they could talk about what happened here. Hopefully that would be very, very soon, because he would also need one hundred percent compliance with the task at hand, because if they Dark Dragon found stress among his enemies, he'd exploit it.

* * *

**AN:/ OHHH! Rose and Jake are butting heads, but didn't you really see this coming? Anyway, please leave a review.**


	18. Whispers in the Dark, Rose's Plan

**Chapter 17**

**Victoria Peak, Hong Kong, China **

There was so much that he could feel when he touched the minds of the Dragon Council, anger, fear, panic, greed, and loathing. He did his best to keep his presence from their minds, but on some level he wanted them to know that he was watching them and waiting in the wings to attack. That was his final objective, the murder of the Dragon Council as a whole. And soon he would begin to work towards that goal, and the first objective would be to get one of the weaker Dragons on that council to follow him, and a weak mind was the easiest to bend. The Dark Dragon touched each of their minds, and he only found one that was the weakest and he knew in that moment that he would be the easiest to break.

He had taken shelter in a cave on the west face of Victoria Peak, the Sun was growing unbearable to him in his human form and he would stay in here until he could transform into his stronger self and take flight towards his goal. And by the end of tonight, he would have succeeded in his goal, to control the Pro Tempore of the Dragon Council, Edward Keeler.

**Isle of Draco, Dragon Council Security Bunker, Private Chambers of Pro Tempore Edward Keeler **

"_Edward Keeler"_ A deep, throaty voice whispered.

The Pro Tempore's eye bugged when he heard the voice call, he was sitting at his desk and he snapped his head from left to right. There was no one in the room, and then he felt his heart rate increase as the sense of paranoia overcame him, why was he hearing things? This had never happened before and he could swear that someone was calling him. It reached a point where he knew that he wasn't hearing things, someone was calling him through his mind. Then he felt his heart rate return to normal and his sense of paranoia left him. Putting his hands on the desk, he pushed himself up and out of his chair and he looked at the ceiling as if he would find the problem.

He was going to have to keep his mind locked down, or it would break to whoever or whatever was attempting to break into it and control it. But even with that half hearted resolution to his 'problem' he was credibly fearful.

**Manhattan New York, The Long Family Apartment **

What Jake had said hurt her more than it had upset her, but of course she wasn't going to let that on. The only way she knew how to react to pain was to be strong and she had only really allowed herself to cry a few times. How dare he tell her that he wished he hadn't met her, it wasn't as if he had thrown away everything that he knew to be with her. It was the other way around, Rose was sure that if she hadn't even met Jake then she would be the master of the Huntsclan, and he would be dead. If anyone should wish that, it should be her, Jake gave up nothing, and she had given up everything. "Mom, is everything ok?"

That was from Alyssa who had noticed her emerging from the hall first, she could tell that Rose was upset, not angry, she was upset as in she was sad. "It's nothing, I just had an argument with you father, and he said something that hurt me…"

Alyssa's mouth gaped, he hardly was ever able to achieve that. "What was it?"

"I don't think you should know" Rose said wanting not to discuss it right now.

"Mother, I may not be thirty five, but I have two kids and a husband," Alyssa remarked taking offence to that somewhat. "Tell me as a friend, not a daughter"

Rose put her hands on her hips and blew out a sigh. "Fine, your father hit me where it hurts, he told me that he wished that he had never met me when he did"

With that Rose walked away not wanting to tell her daughter anymore than was necessary to get the point across. She knew that Alyssa would react very similar to the way that she did in the first place, and she didn't care. Rose wanted Jake to hurt just as much as she did right now and she would do anything to get it. Rose noted that Haley wasn't on the couch anymore, she found it amazing that she actually gave a damn. Her sister in-law could rot in hell for all she cared, when she had showed up Rose had every intention of getting along with her and making an effort to like her regardless of everything that she had done to her husband and mother in-law. But that went out the door when she saw her punch her daughter in the face, and once you got on her bad side there was almost no chance that you were getting off of it. "You ok there Rose? Marital spat?"

"You could say that," She responded flatly to her friend. "And I'm sorry he didn't get a chance to say hi to you, but he was too busy having his head up his ass"

Erin laughed. "Don't worry about it, I completely understand, and by the way, if my sister in-law punched my daughter, I would be beating her ass too"

"And we would be in the same position they are in now Erin" Mark commented.

His wife glanced him with narrowed eyes. "Yea, you on the couch and me in the bed, anyway, did you find anything on Dallas Grey that we could use?"

Mark nodded. "I think so, I'm just trying to find a picture of him"

"Do you know the company?" Rose asked.

Again Mark nodded. "Selxia Weapon Design and Manufacturing Corporation, he's chairman of the their Corporate Board of Directors, he owns a controlling interest in the company and he directs the Washington Branch as their manager"

"Wow," Rose said raising her eyebrows. "That sounds like Dallas"

"How can you tell by just that?" asked Mark skeptically.

She smiled. "He was always smart when it came to numbers and direction for that matter, and frankly I'll be surprised if that turns out not to be him…"

"So will I" Erin interjected.

Mark who was looking at his phone made an accomplished face, and then he smiled. "I was able to pull his official portrait off of the company website"

He handed the phone to Erin who grasped the Phone and leaned in to look at the picture and then she nodded and handed the phone too Rose. Taking the phone into her hand, she looked down at the picture and then she knew that this was Dallas. He had gotten older, well all of them had, but he still had his flaming red hair, and that impish grin. Rose was disgusted with herself when she remembered that she had once been attracted to him. Shaking her head, she walked forward and handed Mark's Phone back to him. "Well, I guess we know who we need to go after, and where we need to go after him…"

"Do you have the blueprints to the building?" Jackie asked from the side.

Rose looked over to her and shook her head. "No, and I'm not sure if we'll be able to acquire them, do you have a suggestions to how we'll be able to?"

"This isn't really a suggestion of how we can get the blueprints to the building, but I do have a suggestion of how we can keep track of his man," She said sagely. "I would be willing to go to Washington and to this …Selxia Building to watch for this man, I'll follow him to wherever he goes, and I'll make sure that you'll be able to _question_ him if that's what you need to do"

She certainly wasn't expecting the older woman to say that, but she liked the idea of keeping tabs of Grey until she was ready. But she could see the words written between the lines, this was also a way of getting out of going to the Isle of Draco. "Uh, I like that idea and that would be great, but I've got to ask, is there some reason that you're trying to get out of going to the Isle of Draco?"

"I wasn't very subtle was I Huntsgirl? She responded with a smile.

Rose shook her head. "No, you should've remembered we're all trained too to know when people are lying and we are very good at it, especially me"

"Damn," Jackie remarked with a smile. "Yes, I suppose there is and it's rather important, one that could affect me if I even set foot on the Isle of Draco…"

"It has to be something serious," She said. "I mean I don't know a lot about the law of Dragons, but I do know some of the important things…"

Jackie brought her arms to cross over her chest. "A few years before Erin was born, in fact when I was about your age, I managed to kill a Dragon Councilor"

"Alright Mom!" Erin said smiled as she slapped her knee.

"Oh," Rose said absently. "So I guess then you can go to D.C then…"

The older woman nodded with a gleaming smile.

* * *

She expected to find her father in the bedroom still think about what had gone down between him and her mother, and he indeed was. Alyssa found Jake sitting on the edge of the bed looking down at the floor absently. "Dad, I just wanted to say that what you said to Mom was really crappy"

"She told you?" Jake asked flatly.

Alyssa nodded. "As an outside opinion, I have just got to say that if anyone should be pissed about meeting you, it should be her, she gave up everything she had to be with you and you have the gull to tell her differently"

"Oh you are some piece of work," Jake scoffed. "You know Alyssa you are on some role with pissing people off today, first it's your Aunt and now me"

She glared at him with her hands on her hips. "I told you, she isn't my Aunt!"

"Shut up Alyssa, you two have no right to interfere in that matter, it is mine to deal with and I'll deal with it how I please" He snapped angrily at her.

That was it, she couldn't stand to be in the same room with him right now, she turned on her heel and she approached the door, she paused and turned to look at him. "You know daddy, I just wanted to tell you a quote that I learned, _the mistakes of a girl are the makings of a woman_, and you know by the way your acting, you made Mom into one hell of a woman, now you have to chose, between her and that bitch you call your sister"

And just as her mother had done a little while before, she opened the door and slammed it behind her. Jake scoffed to himself and shook his head, Alyssa had said it, he loved his sister deeply, but he also loved his family deeply and it was clear now that neither could get along with each other. His family, meaning his wife and daughter were so alike that they would never like Haley, and now at least Haley couldn't stand either one of them. This was so hard.

* * *

**AN:/ I just wanted to wrap this part up so I could almost start out with the Dragon Council in the next update. So pardon the rapid updates, and yes, I'll be dragging this whole fight between Jake, Haley, Rose and Alyssa for a long time. So just warning you, ok please leave a review for your humble writer.**


	19. Petty Marital Fighting

**Chapter 18 **

* * *

Jake had found Haley in the bathroom, and his heart ached for her, she looked absolutely horrible, her face was swollen, one of her eyes looked like it had actually closed up. Closing the door the bathroom he watched as she lightly dabbed her nose, it was bleeding. With a sigh he reaffirmed the thought that Rose had done a number on her. Apparently she didn't notice him more than likely her eyesight must have been really bad. Reaching out he laid a hand on her shoulder and he stifled a laugh when he saw her jump.

"Hey jumpy," He said with a grin. "You look like hell"

Haley sighed. "Well I feel worse than I look and I guess I had it coming when I punched Alyssa in the face, but she had it coming after what she did"

"I know she was out of line, but you could have been the bigger person, and because I defended you, I'm in the dog house," Jake responded with an even heavier sigh. "I just said some things to Rose that I really do regret"

She frowned. "Well you know what I think? She's an control evil bitch of a-"

"Hey! She maybe controlling sometimes but I love her very much, and thought I can't agree with what she did, I can understand it, you wanna' know why Haley? Because if you were a guy and not my sibling I would have done the same thing to you," Jake told her sternly. "You can punch someone for calling your kid a basterd, but not my kid, especially my daughter"

Raising her head she scoffed. "Oh where have I heard that before? Oh that's right, it was what Rose kept shouting to me when she was kicking my teeth in"

"You just reminded me, do you need to go the ER or something?" He asked.

She shook her head. "All I'll need are some Band-Aids, Maybe a few aspirin and an Ice Pack, and I almost forgot the most important one, uh alcohol?"

Jake raised his eyebrows. "Aren't you missing some teeth? That'll hurt"

"It feels like I'm missing a few," She retorted sharply. "But you know I think when I'm drunk I really won't care, infact I might not need the aspirin…"

Shaking his head he laughed, oh alright, he didn't care if she got drunk now, even if she was alone with his kids it would only be for an hour or so and she really wouldn't be that much of a problem. "Fine, as long as you promise not to hit it hard while we're gone, I don't need you alone and drunk with kids"

Haley shook her head. "I'll be sipping anyway"

"Alright, in the liquor cabinet in the kitchen, I have a really big and expensive bottle of scotch," He said with a grin. "I've been saving it for awhile for a special occasion but you can have it, I don't know if that's your drink but…"

"…but that'll be fine" She said turning to him and smiling as best she could.

And then Haley reached up and hugged her brother. "You took a lot of heat from your family, and I appreciate it, and maybe someday you and I can sit down by ourselves and settle all of the bad blood that we still have, but we need to be together right now, you do remember the villain that we face"

"Yes I do," Jake nodded with a smile. "And that sounds good, it would be better than fighting with each other every time we want to remember Mom"

Haley nodded. "Sorry to break up the sentimental moment here, but do you have a place that I can go lay down for a while, somewhere in private?"

"You can go lay down in Rose and I's bed, I'm sure she won't mind, were going to be pretty busy when we get back," He said with a smirk. "And when we do get back, if you need anything all you will have to do is call me"

* * *

**The living room of the Long Family Apartment **

* * *

After Jake had finished helping Haley into his bed, he had to actually summon the courage to go into the living room. He knew that Rose wouldn't speak to him, and his daughter would but she would be total smart ass in every word she spoke. Rubbing his eyes wearily he walked out of the hall and made his way into the living room to be with everyone. Almost instantly he felt his daughter's eyes on him. "Daddy, you have emerged…"

Jake shot his daughter a sarcastic smile. "Yes I have, so I don't think I've had the chance to be introduced to our guests, I'm Jake Long…"

"Oh I know who you are," The strange women asked, she was one of the two that had walked in, but he didn't see the other one and he wondered where she had gone. "We've met before, but I didn't know that you were a Dragon at the time, I keep thinking what would have happened I'd known"

He smiled. "You must be Erin then yes we have met before"

"You're much more handsome then the short kid I remember," Erin said with a smirk. "It must have been on hell of a growth spurt for you to get that tall"

Nodding he walked over to stand next to Rose who was blatantly ignoring him, with her actions the room was filled with this awkwardness that only Rose and Jake could engineer. "Oh it was fun, but the pain finally paid off"

"Ok I'm new," Mark said who was standing next to Erin. "So if where going to this …Draco place and it's filled with Dragons, so I'd kind of like to get that shock right now so I don't make bad impressions, so if you don't mind"

Jake smiled and nodded his head. "Alright, but if it eases your mind a bit, the Council whom we're going to see stays in their human form unless they're going into a fight or something, but the guards remain as dragons"

With a movement of his hand, his entire body was consumed by flame and then within of an eye he was transformed into his Dragon Form. He stood in his hulking red form, and he did his best to not scare the man, he had read accounts of humans actually having heart attacks from the fright when they saw Dragons. And apparently this man wasn't that scared with him infact Jake was amazed to see the man smile, and with a flick of his hand the process was reversed and he shrunk down to his human form. Then he cast a toothy grin at both Mark and Erin. "I hope I didn't scare you or anything"

Erin scoffed. "Please I've seen Dragons before"

"I thought it was cool," Mark said with a grin. "So you can do that at will?"

Jake nodded. "Yep, I have been able to do that since I was fourteen and let's just say that it has saved my life over and over and over again"

"I don't think your powers have saved you Jake, your funny clumsiness has seemed to do that more than the Dragon power has" Rose said next to him with a smirk. It really didn't hurt Jake as much as it just annoyed him.

Narrowing his eyes he looked at his wife. "You know Rose I've wondered something for oh almost twenty years now, is your shrewish personality the product of when your dual personalities as both Rose and the Huntsgirl collided, or are you the girl I really married? Do you have an answer?"

She turned and scowled at him. "I may be a shrew, and I'll be the first person to admit that, but at least I don't have the brains of burnt popcorn"

"Hey," Jake narrowed his eyes. "I graduated …with honors"

Rose rolled her eyes. "Sure you did honey"

"I apologize for the self confessed shrew over here," Jake said looking back to Erin and Mark with a smug grin. "Where is the third one I saw come in?"

"My mother, she's going to Washington D.C, she's going to be doing a little recon for us," Erin explained. "I think that's on the agenda for when we get back, we're gonna pay an old friend a visit"

Jake looked to his side at Rose. "Are you going to need me?"

"No," She shook her head. "I don't think I'll have any trouble convincing a man who, I might add, I once had major thing for, you know what Jake when I think of Dallas Grey I think that I could have been a trophy wife living in a big mansion with all of the money and the happiness in the world…"

He cocked his head and smirked. "…and happily drinking and having affairs 'till you drop dead, because you'd be in a lifeless marriage, with a man who wouldn't give a damn about you, because he'd be able to buy fifty woman who looked exactly like you to sleep with himself, so you're pretty lucky"

Who the hell was she kidding? He was right about that, but still she was pissed at him and still very saddened by the things that he had said to her. It took her a moment to stop think about all of that before she raised one eyebrow and turned to look at him. "Are you going to sit there all night talking out of your ass or are you going to set up the portal so we can go?"

"I'll go set up the portal dear" He said with a cold grin.

* * *

**The Isle of Draco, The Trail Outside to the Council Palace **

* * *

When Erin arrived at the other end of that magic portal, she was amazed to find herself in a tropical paradise. In the years that's she had spent learning about this place in the Huntsclan, she was taught that this place was a hellish island were Dragons tortured people to death in the most unbearable way. But it wasn't like that at all, it was the most beautiful place that she had ever been too. With her son at her right side and her husband at her left she followed the three people who leading them up the trail. She could sense the tension between them, that was clear in the banter that they had shared back in the apartment and just by the way they walked with each other. Turning her head to her right she looked at her son. "Do they always get this tense when they fight? Or is this a new thing that you've seen?"

"I've never seen them act like this with each other," He responded shrugging lightly. "I've got to say this is really weird, even for them…"

"Did this start with that whole punch in the face thing?" She asked.

Again Johnny shrugged. "I think so, but I'm not sure, I'd just let this play its course until they make up and play nice, so let's stop talk about this because I don't know how they'll react if they find out that we've been tal-"

"Johnny! I'll be reacting like this," He heard Rose shout from her position ahead of them. "It isn't polite to talk about people, especially when they're all in earshot, now catch up before I come back there and drag you to us!"

He sighed and smiled at his mother. "I guess that's how they'd react"

Erin returned his simile and made a motion to both Johnny and Mark to quicken their pace, and within a few minutes they were standing with Rose, Jake and Alyssa. Both Rose and Jake wore masks of annoyance, and Alyssa looked as if she would do anything to just get away from them. "Ladies and Gentleman, and shrew woman," Jake said taking that chance to glance at Rose. "I would like to introduce to you, the fabled Isle of Draco…"

"Oh lay off the fairy tale routine," Erin said laughing. "It's the Isle of Draco, sure I'm impressed by it, but it isn't a name that I haven't heard before…"

With that Erin, Mark and Johnny passed around Jake, Rose and Alyssa to walk further up the trail. "Why is it that every girl from the Huntsclan has to be a smartass?"

"It's our common nature" Rose said simply.

* * *

**AN:/ I just wanted to milk all the time I could before our characters meet the Dragon Council, I know I keep saying that "it'll be in the next chapter" but this time I mean it when I say that it'll be in the next chapter. And in case you didn't understand, Jackie is heading to Washington to spy on Dallas Grey. And to another concern, Luong will appear at the end of chapter 21, so don't get concerned that I forgot about him.**


	20. Slayer of Kemect

Chapter 20

* * *

Jake had traveled the world and he still thought that no sight could ever impress him as much as the Dragon Council Palace, he regretted the fact that this time he wouldn't get to see the other parts of the palace, right now he had to deal with the Council. They were held up in their bunker, and that disgusted Jake, they were Dragon Councilors, and they were the Councilors because they were strong and hiding wasn't being strong. But then again he understood that the Council needed to survive to govern the Dragon State and protect its most sacred object, the Diamond of Draco. He knew the layout of the bunker network that was built a few weeks after the death of the Huntsman, two main complexes, one was a few hundred feet directly under the palace, it held the Council Chambers, the Council meeting room, a dormitory section for the servants and aides, a cafeteria, and a large medical wing. The other complex, well it was more of a vault, was built incredibly deeper, it was built a mile directly under the center of the palace and it held the Diamond of Draco as well as its defenses. The absurdly long distance from the surface to the vault was a precaution that Jake himself had suggested, it was formally held in the old Emperor's library, and surprisingly it was very easy to get too, so the size alone was one obstacle that Jake thought no one would wait their time with.

Marching through the Grand Atrium to the salutes of the guards made him feel like it was three and a half years earlier when he was the supreme commander of the Dragon Military. He was being followed closely by his five companions as he followed the Captain of the Palace Guard who was leading them to the entrance of the bunker complex. Jake wondered what Erin and Mark were thinking about all of this, Erin had probably wondered about this place since she was a child just as Rose had done, and Mark was probably thinking that he was dreaming. Jake noticed out of the corner of his eye that the guards that aligned the walls of the Atrium were throwing looks at both Erin and Mark, and he laughed. "Captain, do these guards have a problem?"

"May I speak frankly General?" The Captain asked.

Jake nodded. "I won't react that badly, just as long as it doesn't concern my wife or daughter?"

"No, absolutely not, we here at the Palace Guard hold Mrs. Long and your daughter in the highest regards for their bravery in the destruction of the Huntsclan, and applies to Mr. Sindacco as well," He responded. "The problem is with the two humans, the male looks frail and weak, and the female …she feels familiar to us, she smells familiar to us, as if we've know her before…"

Jake couldn't see how that was even possible from what he could gather it was clear that Erin had never even been on the Isle of Draco and dealt with the Palace Guards. Perhaps it was her mother that had to be the reason, Jake couldn't see how they could have a problem with Erin, but he could assume a logical reason for what they felt, her mother. "Captain you have an extensive knowledge of the past and the most wanted enemies of the state, does the name Hunter Hutchinson or Jackie Hutchinson have any possible meaning too you? Because that could explain how she 'smells' familiar too you"

He actually stopped and jumped back when he heard the Captain _hiss _loudly. "The Slayer of Kemect, she is the slayer?"

"Uh, no …now I'm only saying this because you reacted that way," Jake said raising his arms in surrender. "But evidently her mother is, her name is Erin Hutchinson"

"You don't have to be so shy Captain, I can introduce myself," Erin said, when she had heard her name she had quickened her pace to walk next to Jake. "The name's Erin Hutchinson and you are…?"

She didn't finish her sentence before the Captain had practically flown at the woman and clasped his hands around her throat, yes, she was defiantly of the blood offspring of the slayer of Dragon Councilor Kemect. With that revelation, he tightened his grip around the woman's throat. "You and your mother are sworn enemies of the Dragon Council, my predecessors all failed to find your family, but know you walk right into my hands…"

"W-Wha…" Erin choked out under the vice of the Dragon's hands.

And just as she thought that she was going to pass out from lack of blood to her head, she saw a burst of flame come from behind the Captain, and then two large Dragon talons were gripping the sides of the Captain and he was yanked off of her. Taking a deep breath in, she savored the feeling of fresh air, and then she felt her husband's hands help pull her up. "Erin! Erin oh my god, are you alright?"

"Y-Yea…," She breathed rubbing her throat. "What the hell was that about!"

Jake who had transformed back into his human form, now stood watching the guard captain who had been knocked unconscious. "I think he attacked you because of the fact that your mother killed Dragon Councilor Kemect"

"Crazy Basterd," Rose mumbled. "Should we be worried about this happening?"

"I think so," Jake nodded. "Why didn't you tell me that she did that, she and Jackie are walking dead if they step foot on this island, you can never be forgiven for killing a Councilor"

"Well Damnit Jake I thought that would only apply to Jackie" Rose said bug-eyed.

Jake frowned at her. "Well if you weren't so busy be a cold shrew then you might have found the time to tell me that her mother and she have a death sentence in the eyes of the Council…"

"Oh I'm cold!" Rose shouted.

And then they broke out into a full scale argument, it was truly the most appalling sight that Alyssa had ever seen break out in front of her parents. She looked over to her husband and shook her head. "Ok," She said. "This shit has to stop between them, they can't keep doing this!"

Johnny nodded. "Go talk to them, they'll listen to you"

Not bothering to continue, Alyssa stomped over to where her parents where, their argument was echoing off of the atrium ceiling. She put her hands on her hips and looked down, that garnered the reaction that she wanted. Rose and Jake stopped arguing and looked at their daughter, they both wore skeptical glares. Jake was the first one to say something. "What do you want?"

"Don't speak to her like that!" Rose snapped angrily.

Jake glared at her. "She's my daughter and I'll speak to her how I damn well want!"

"She's my daughter too and if you speak to her like that again, so help me I'll drag you out to your Grandfather's grave and beat your ass on it!" Rose yelled with impressive vigor.

That was a low blow, in fact so low that water began to build up in his eyes, he spoke with a deadly anger. He couldn't believe she said that. "That one hurt, you're a cold hearted _bitch_"

"That's right baby, I'm the cold hearted bitch and you're the devoted idiot to that cold hearted bitch," Rose countered. "I'm the bitch from hell, and you're the idiot who loves her"

"Alright that is enough you two, I cannot take this anymore!" Alyssa shouted between them.

They both stopped their rolling insults to once again look at their first born. "I have watched you two bitch and bitch at each other since we left the apartment, now we're getting away from the big picture here, Erin was just attacked, and the Dark Dragon is on the loose, so if this marital fighting can stop until we've taken care of him, you can wreak your marriage all you want too!"

"I didn't wreak this marriage she did!" Jake shouted back glaring at Rose with hate.

Rose scoffed. "Like hell I did! It was your father's inability to be a man and a father that sent this marriage made in hell south! He takes his sister's side over his wife's and that hurt a lot"

"Oh shut the _hell_ up mother, she punched me, you beat the hell out of her, get over it, because if you don't then we'll all be dead by the end of the week!" Alyssa shouted at her mother.

And then she turned to her father who not to her surprise was wearing a face of smug satisfaction on his face. "And what the hell are you so smug about? You sat and watched your sister punch your daughter in the face, and then when your wife get's back at her, you have the gull to say that you wished you never met her, you both are petty idiots, now you love each other and I can't see how if this is how you act in a fight, _GET OVER IT AND LET'S GET BACK TO WORK!" _

She didn't even bother to look at them as she stormed away to Mark, Erin and Johnny. Surely enough that had made her parents think, she could feel both of their eyes glued onto her back as she reached the side of her Husband. She then turned to her Mother in-law and offered her a blank expression. "Do you feel comfortable going on? You wanna' go back to New York?"

"No," Erin shook her head. "I'll just make sure to be prepared, and to use a different name"

Alyssa nodded. "I think that'd be a good idea"

**Isle of Draco, Dragon Council Security Bunker, Hospital Wing**

The Captain who was leading them to the bunker was replaced with another guide and after a long while they arrived in the bunker and shortly after that in the hospital wing. Jake immediately felt strange as he laid his eyes on the scout who was laying on one of the beds, he felt something weighing down on his mind, something dark and very powerful. Somehow he knew what was causing it, or more who was causing this to happen too him. He neared the edge of the bed and looked at the sleeping man, narrowing his eyes, he felt like someone was watching him and then he narrowed his eyes further. And his breath caught as an image flashed across his vision, it was the Dark Dragon and he was charging at him. But in a blink of an eye the image was gone. Jake actually found himself gasping at the sight, he reached up and put his hand on his chest.

"What is it?" He heard Alyssa say.

He turned to her and he had a blank look on his face. "I don't know, I think that I just hallucinated that the Dark Dragon was attacking me, or it really was him, but he was trying to frighten me, or shake me up, I don't know, it's over now, we really need to talk to the coun-"

But Alyssa wasn't listening, he looked at her and saw that her eyes were locked onto the sleeping scout, and then her eyes twitched and the she screamed. Alyssa looked as if she was about to fall over, but that was before Jake's arms caught her, he could tell that she had just experienced that same thing. "Alyssa? Lyss honey what did you see? Did you see him?"

She nodded, her face was ghostly pale. "He wasn't a-attacking me though, he was looking at me, and then he asked me my name, I didn't tell him and then he just started laughing…"

"Do you need help?" Johnny asked running from his mother's side to join Jake and Alyssa.

Alyssa shook her head. "No, no, that just really scared the hell out of me"

"We can understand that honey," Rose said now standing next to Johnny. "I've fought the Dark Dragon too and he can be a little intimidating…"

"But you're not a dragon, you can't feel what it's like to have him invade your mind" He said.

Rose frowned. "Oh forgive me for not being a large blood thirsty-"

"Shut up!" Johnny said to her as he helped his wife back to her feet.

The former Huntsgirl put her hands on her hips. "Don't get involved you little-"

"You really don't want to finish the sentence," Erin said walking up next to Rose. "Trust me"

Rose could hear her friend growling, she put up her hands in surrender. "Fine, alright, let's get to the council so we can leave this place and get what needs to be done, done, alright Jake?"

"Sounds fine with me" Jake snapped.

**Isle of Draco, Council Audience Chamber **

"Ah," Edward Keeler said as he saw Jake and his party enter the chamber. "You've returned"

Jake ignored the comment and moved to stand at the center of the table, his companions took place behind him. He didn't want to be here and see these people, and that was clear in every step that he took. The feeling that they were not worthy to be in his room unless his grandfather was in it took a hold of him once again. "Yes, and I think that you should know, that when I and my daughter went to the medical wing to look at that scout, we saw the Dark Dragon…"

"You saw him? How is that possible?" Edward asked skeptically.

Jake nodded. "It was more of a vision, he attacked me and he was more curious about Alyssa, but it was him there is no mistake in that, he has always had a special grudge against me"

"And Pro Tempore Lao Shi for that matter," The Pro Tempore added. "Alright, I guess that isn't totally out of the realm of possibility, don't be concerned about that General, the Dark Dragon and his powers will not be that affected over Dragons such as yourself and your daughter"

He didn't buy that for a second, but he was in no position to challenge Keeler. Jake simply nodded and then turned back to face Rose. "I believe that my wife has accomplished what this council asked of her a few hours ago concerning the technology of the Huntsclan"

"Good," Edward said with a smile. "Mrs. Long was your task difficult?"

Rose shook her head. "Not at all Pro Tempore, in fact it was rather easy as most things come these days, I would like you to meet the co-creator of the nerve gas"

She stepped back to allow Erin to walk forward, and as soon as she was in eye sight of the Dragon Councilors a collective gasp came from them all. Erin looked around at them and then the sinking feeling came to her stomach, she wouldn't have to tell them a false name, if those guards in the palace know who she was and who her mother was without even meeting her than these Councilors sure could. "She is the slayer of Councilor Kemect! She must die!"

That came from a dark man sitting two seats away from the Pro Tempore. Erin looked at him as well as taking the opportunity of glancing at all of them. "I can explain, please let me do it"

"Oh I want to hear this story," Keeler said with a cold glare. "I would like to hear it now!"

* * *

**AN:/ Did you kind of see this coming when Jackie told our characters that she killed a Dragon Councilor? I wonder what exactly the Dragon Council will due to her when she explains this.**


	21. Pardon's and Divorce's all around

**Chapter 20**

**

* * *

**

Erin began to think that no one before her had ever been on the spot like this, all of the members of the Dragon Council bore eyes into her and the pressure of the moment was overbearing to say the least. She faltered a moment before she regained her confidence and glanced at all of the people at the table. "I didn't kill this Dragon Councilor, I wasn't even born when my mother did that, I just found out a few hours ago from her anyway, and I just saw what happens when you even say my last name on this island"

"Tell me Hunter," Keeler asked. "Are you aware of our laws?"

She shook her head. "I was told that killing a sitting member of this council is a crime punishable by death, and that all members of that persons-"

"…Person's family are condemned as well, that is correct, and seeing as the Slayer of Kemect is your mother, what should we do?" Keeler asked nicely.

"I don't know, but think about what I can do for you before you make your decision to kill me or not," Erin explained calmly. "You have the Dark Dragon at your gates, I as well as Rose helped design technology that could defeat him, you will need the both of us to implement that technology, and I can offer my abilities which will help you immensely, please just think of that"

The man at the head of the table looked as if he were in deep thought, Erin laid her eyes on his and neither of him broke gazes. Erin was surprised to find that the man was looking at her up and down, and that made her jitter slightly with revulsion. "You make a point, and the next few questions that I ask you will decide if you receive a pardon from this council or not"

"Very well" Erin asked putting on a calm, collected face.

Edward nodded. "Do you still carry the line of hate that most of the Huntsclan shared about us? I mean are you willing to betray us if needed?"

"No," She answered truthfully. "I stopped thinking like that twenty years ago, and besides, I'm doing this because if affects my family and I would never betray my family even if that means death for me"

The Pro Tempore nodded and then he glanced back at the table again, he was thinking of another question that if she weren't prepared to answer then it would make her fluster. "And –assuming that your mother is alive- does she share those same sentiments about your family?"

"Absolutely" Erin answered with iron clad resilience.

Edward didn't expect her to answer that, and she was surprisingly strong in that response. "Alright, now answer me this, if it was decided that your mother face trial for the murder of Dragon Councilor Kemect, do you think that she could return to this Island willingly and without resistance?"

That was something that she didn't know how to answer, and she cursed inwardly at the thought that the man had gotten her. Erin sighed and put her hands on her hips. She couldn't speak for her mother and she certainly didn't want too get her mother into anything that she couldn't get out of. It was decided in her mind, she would just answer, but one thing was for sure, she was not going to let her mother be executed or brought her for a trial, not matter what she said or did. "I honestly don't know, I cannot speak for my mother but I can tell you now that she killed that Councilor because she was taught to, she was practically brainwashed, you all know what the Huntsclan did to us, they taught us that you all were blood thirsty evil beings that needed to be eradicated, but that wasn't the truth, it was a lie"

"A moving speech indeed," He responded nodding his head. "One final request before I ask a vote, show us some evidence of brainwashing, or a conclusive fact that Hunters such as yourself can really should humanity"

Erin smiled, that was an easy one for her to answer, because the answer was now standing behind her. She made a motion for Rose to come up, and the woman complied. Rose wore a blank expression as she glanced around at the Council members. "She was the student at the foot of the Huntsman himself and if any of us in the entire Huntsclan was taught to hate Magical creatures she was, and it was driven on hard, but look at where she is now, she married a Dragon, had five kids with a Dragon, and made it possible for the death of the very last Huntsman, she's proven that she the Huntsgirl can show tolerance and love towards Dragons, just look at who she married"

"We did not base our pardon of her off of those facts, as commendable and wonderful as they are," He said looking at Rose. "The last Pro Tempore and the council pardoned her because of her extensive knowledge of the Huntsclan system, we pardoned her if she shared that information with us, nothing more, if it weren't for that fact alone, she would be dead right now"

Rose who had frozen at the terms of her pardon four years ago, narrowed her eyes at the Pro Tempore. "Excuse me for a second, what did you say?"

"I said that the terms of your pardon were simply for you to share information with us and if you had refused you would have been executed for your crimes against this state and this council" Keeler said again.

Anger boiled within her, her eyes narrowed to the point that she was almost shutting her eyes. Her hands that were at her sides were balled into fists, she was seething and she had a pretty good idea who to direct all of the anger at. "And tell me Pro Tempore Keeler, who was supposed to tell me this, because I was never informed, I thought that there were no terms"

"Oh but there were," Edward smiled as he caught on. "This is amusing, I remember the day that we decided to pardon you, and we specifically told your Husband the terms of the agreement, even if he didn't tell you, you still complied, but I cannot imagine how it feels to know that he lied to you…"

Rose narrowed her eyes and frowned, and then she turned on her heel to look at her Husband. She noticed that he had turned ghostly pail and that he was now looking down at the floor. "That's right Pro Tempore Keeler," Rose said not taking her eyes off of Jake. "You can't know what it feels like, but let me assure you and I know you'll enjoy this that my husband will certainly know what it feels like to be on the receiving end of that feeling"

"I wish I could see it," Edward said with a grin. "But anyway, Hunter Hutchinson, I've decided that neither you nor your mother will be persecuted for any crimes against us in exchange for a few services but you seem to be doing"

"You want me to get you the nerve gas, I wonder what I've been doing up to this point," Erin said with a smile and a slight bow. "I can assure you that myself and my mother will do everything that we can too acquire the gas"

"Then you and your mother are pardoned for all crimes against the Dragon State and the Dragon Council that you've committed in the span of your lives, any further crime will be met with swift justice," Edward recited. "Do you understand these terms and will you do all that you can to meet the terms of your pardon laid down before this verbal agreement?"

Erin nodded. "I swear to do so"

"Very well than," He said. "Your pardon as well that of your mothers is in affect, now I shall hear the debating opinion of the Council Members?"

"Pro Tempore, I must object" Councilor Kukulkan of Central America said from the far side of the table. "This woman and her family have been hunting us for years, this woman's mother killed Kemect who was a sitting Councilor on this council, that is a capital crime, and after a few nice words you pardon her and her mother for their crimes? I don't see logic in that"

He looked at his subordinate Councilor with a questioning glare. "The logic in my decision without a vote without the Council is unquestionable, we need elite people to move against the Dark Dragon and you don't get more elite then this _odd _band of Hunters and Dragons, even if you take it as in insult that her family murdered a Councilor and I overlook that it doesn't matter, my word is law, I am the unquestioned Pro Tempore of this Council and if any of you wish to be heard, I will have you executed immediately"

In all of his years of seeing Council after Council, Jake had never heard a Pro Tempore talk like that, the Pro Tempore before his Grandfather had never said anything of that nature, his Grandfather had never said anything of that nature and had shocked him even more was the fact that not even Chang who had been Pro Tempore –though it was only for the few months before her defection- had never even eluded to the execution of political opponents. An awkward silence fell over the room, Jake looked at Councilor Kukulkan who wore a face of shock. "I-I apologize Pro Tempore Keeler, I shall not voice my objection to your wise course of action ever again"

"That's right," He responded before looking back to the group. "I trust that my faith in your group's unique ability is not misplaced, I also trust that you will be able to acquire this Huntsclan Technology quickly?"

* * *

**Isle of Draco, Dragon Council Palace, Grand Atrium **

"Rose," Jake said. "Look, about what Keeler said back there"

It had been a short time since she had found out about it, and she was still venomously mad. She just wasn't showing it, in fact she had buried her emotions under the cloak of a blank expression. They had been walking back to the entrance from where the came, and when Rose stopped to look at Jake, the entire group did. Rose glared at him coldly.

"What Jake? What could you possibly tell me that he didn't? You've been lying to me for four years now and what makes it worse is, I wouldn't have cared if all they pardoned me for is for the information I could give them, but now I'm offended that you thought I would give a damn, the thing that hurts thought is that I didn't hear it from you! I heard if from that pompous ass in there! So what do you want to say to me _baby_?" She snapped.

He didn't have anything to say but he was sorry. "Rose, I only didn't mention it to protect you, I wanted you to feel like you weren't an enemy"

Rose feigned happiness, she grasped at her chest and made a mockingly happy face. "Oh, oh my god, I think that's the sweetest thing that you've said to me since you told me that you wished you'd never meet me, I think I'm falling in love with you all again, oh thank you god for your kindness"

"There's no need to act like that," Jake said sternly. "I wanted to protect-"

"Protect me from what exactly Jake? Protect me from some giant reptiles who think of me as an enemy? There was no need for that," Rose said exasperated. "I could have handled myself, and I can now, you know what Jake, I've just had enough of this, you have lied to me, and done so many crappy things and now that their all being told to me in one night it's not having a good affect wish us, even if we are just fighting, so I don't want to do it anymore, I think after we're done with this Dark Dragon thing we-"

"What are you saying Rose, do you want to get a divorce and end this?" He asked partly nervous at her answer, and partly smug as he thought that she would never leave him, they loved each other despite all of the bad things.

And then the glass broke in his mind as she nodded. "That's _exactly_ it, I want to separate and get a divorce, and the only reason that I'm not leaving you now, the only reason, is because the Dark Dragon is going to kill our kids and try to kill the one in my womb, but otherwise after all of the crap that you've kept from me and said to me, I want nothing more to do with you, as far as I'm concerned, this marriage is already over"

* * *

**AN:/ I debated with myself if I should even drag it to the point where Jake and Rose get a divorce. And if you're mad about it, I can assure you that you shouldn't be, I'm not going to say it but I'm assuming that you know what I mean by that. Anyway, in the next chapter we're off to Washington D.C to investigate Dallas Grey and Rose and Erin will deal with him directly. And Luong will also arrive in the United States.**


	22. Jackie Kidnaps Dallas Grey, Surviving

**AN:/ This is more of just a chapter devoted to Jackie and Rebecca Kay, and the development of both stories. I will pick up where we left Jake, Rose and the others in Chapter 22, I just felt I needed to devote a chapter to these secondary characters. I hope you don't mind. Leave a review please! **

Chapter 21

He had called for a limousine to take him home an hour and a half ago and it still hadn't come, Dallas Grey was beginning to grow annoyed. It was four thirty in the morning and he was the only person standing outside of the Selxia Building, occasionally he would look at the time on his cell phone and release a heavy sigh. He knew that it was unreasonable to think that they would send him a car to take him home this early in the morning, but he paid them god money. And just as he was about to go back into his office and sleep on a cot, he saw the sleek black Limousine pulling into the parking lot. "Finally," He mumbled to himself angrily. "Blithering peasant"

Waving the Limousine down, he frowned to himself as it stopped in front of him. He tapped on the passenger's side window and then it was rolled down and he could see the driver. It was a woman, an older woman and the strange thing was is that she seemed awfully familiar, there was something within her bright green eyes. She leaned closer to the window and eyed him questioningly. "Are you Dallas Grey? The one who called for the Limousine"

"Yes I am," He said shaking his head. "Can you take me home?"

The driver nodded. "Sure I can, after all that's my job"

Dallas looked at her one more time before nodding and walking to the last set of doors, opening it, he slid into the leather seat. Closing it behind him, he slid his briefcase into the seat next to him and he tapped the button that would lower the privacy screen. "Driver, I'm ready"

"Good," The woman turned around. "Because I'm ready as well"

When she turned around, she was clutching a large gun and she was pointing it at Dallas. "Dallas Grey, my name is Jackie Hutchinson, and I have come to ask you a few questions, and you will answer them for all of the effort that I have taken to come here and intercept your Limousine"

"I knew I thought I'd met you before," Dallas said in a conspiratorial hiss at the woman. "Tell me, if you are who you say you are, then prove it to me"

Jackie reached over to her right wrist and pulled back the uniform that she had stolen from driver she had incapacitated. She lightly brushed her wrist that had the Mark of the Huntsclan on it, and then she brought it up and waved it at the man. "This mark cannot be forged, I am who I say I am, I am Jackie Hutchinson and I do believe you know my daughter?"

"Erin," Dallas shook his head. "Yes, from a life time ago"

"Well, very soon you'll be able to see her," Jackie said. "And her friend Rose for that matter, they are searching for something that you helped them develop in your days at the Academy, I'm here to make sure that they'll find you, now I can assure you that you will not be harmed if you comply"

Dallas nodded. "Ah ha, the Nerve Gas weapon, I would have thought that they would no were it was stored, but they need my help to find it"

"More than you know," She responded flatly. "And make no mistake about what I'm about to tell you, if you do not tell us where we can find it then you will suffer like no other, no money or influence can stop me from doing that"

He would take the older woman's word for it, she was a legend in the Huntsclan even though she abandoned it. She had done things in thirty years of her life that even the Huntsman couldn't accomplish, and if she threatened him with bodily harm, no retort, and no threat of any kind could stop her. "What makes you think that I do know where the weapon is at?"

"Because when the project was scrapped, the Huntsman charged you with dismantling the units that were already being designed and to hide the only unit that was ever designed and fully built" She replied hotly with a scowl.

She knew a lot, a little too much for someone who had left years before the Project was developed. "How do you know all of this Huntress Hutchinson?"

"Because the Huntsgirl informed me of everything that I would need to know, and I do know you Dallas Grey," Jackie said. "Alright, in three hours Erin and Rose will arrive here, and they'll be looking for you, were do you suggest we go? And do know I'll be vigilant for your tricks, understood?"

He nodded. "I have a house in Bethesda Maryland, we can go there, and I can assure you that no one will bother you, Rose or Erin, its thirty acres and every inch of the perimeter is gated, is that acceptable for us to go too?"

"Yes," Jackie said staring him down for a moment. "And listen to me when I tell you this Dallas Grey, if you so much as even attempt to contact for help, I will make you suffer, and you will be broken for Rose and Erin when they arrive, and I say again, that if you comply you won't be harmed…"

**Manhattan New York, Abandoned Huntslair Facility **

This was apart of her daily routine, she would traverse the side sewer tunnels of the complex and memorize the layout. And every now and then she would take aim at a rat –and rather oversized rats at that- and kill it with her weapon. It wasn't the ideal environment for target training, but it was the best that she had in this state, when the Huntsclan was at it strongest, they had live creatures to kill. They would be set lose in this sewer complex and the trainees would have to set out and kill them, now that was a good way to hone your Hunting Skills, even in this incredibly crude environment. This needed to work for her, because she needed to stay strong, for herself and for the last band of hunters. 


	23. Shock, Drunkeness and Casual Talk

**Chapter 22**

Alyssa at first thought that this would be a dream and then she would wake up in a cold sweat, but it wasn't a dream, the Dark Dragon was coming after her family, her parents had four other kids, and her parents -or at least one of them- wanted a divorce. She found herself walking from the side of her Husband, and before she knew it she was at her father's side and then she was hugging her father tightly. In one sudden outburst of emotion, she found that whatever happened between them earlier didn't matter anymore, now she was on her father's side in this matter. Her mother was handling her feelings irrationally, she wanted to separate from her husband because of a harmless lie and something said out of anger. Johnny had lied to her, and he had said things to her out of anger before and she had never wanted a divorce from him, she had just simply made him sleep on the couch for a week and make him apologize. "Daddy …oh my…"

"I know," Jake said as he leaned his head into her shoulder. "I can't believe this"

"Oh my god, what are you going to do?" asked Alyssa who was on the verge of tears.

She felt Jake shake his head. "I have no idea in hell what I'm going to do, but I promise you that I'll do everything I can to make things right with your mom, but right now I need you to make sure that all of these guys get back to New York alright"

"What are you going to do?" Alyssa asked curious of what he was getting at.

"I just need to think for awhile," Jake answered. "I'm gonna stop by Grandpa's Grave and pay my respects to him, I haven't been there in about two years, understand?"

Alyssa nodded smiling. "Give him my regards if you would please"

"Sure sweetheart, just remember to get them back home so they can do what they need to do," Jake said. "And can you do me a favor, almost favorite offspring?"

She laughed and then brought his head back up so she could look him in the eyes, Alyssa could tell that he too was on the verge of crying. "Sure, almost favorite father"

"When you go to Washington D.C and if you aren't force yourself on the trip, keep me updated, text me the updates and let me know what your Mother does with this Dallas Grey person, you heard what she said about him?" Jake asked raising his eyebrows.

She cocked her head. "Rich, Handsome and Powerful, the whole trophy wife routine that she played with you, I'll make sure to keep you updated, and do you want me to do anything to him if he some much and looks at her in a way that you do?"

Jake nodded. "What would suffice? Castration"

"I'll be sure to grab a rusty spoon," Alyssa smiled. "Ok, I'm going to take off now"

He patted his daughter on the back. "You do that, and if your Aun-, Haley has gotten into my scotch like she said she would, please be sure to take it away from her…"

"Why don't you let me put pour vodka and tequila on her and set her on fire," She winked at him before lightly pushing herself out of the embrace. "I would happily do it"**

* * *

****Outside Bethesda Maryland, The Property of Dallas Grey**

"So tell me Dallas, how did you make all of your money?" Jackie asked as she led her captive into the first floor living room of the aforementioned captive's large mansion.

Dallas was amused by the fact that this legend was making small talk with him, and he would oblige her it was somewhat of an honor anyway. He had known her daughter and they were so similar that it was almost like being back in Erin's presence. "After I left the clan, I decided to put my design skill to the test, and I went to work for Selxia and I caught their attention by designing a small pocket gun that was implemented for a short time with the War on Terror, the Government paid the company a one hundred million dollar commission I got about ten million for being the one who designed the gun, I did that for about five years until I was able to buy controlling interest. About a year afterwards I became Chief Executive Officer, that's been about seven years ago and I've made hundreds of millions of dollars doing what I do"

"I envy that Dallas, if all of us who left had thought of that then we'd be millionaires and be living like you" Jackie remarked dryly as she motioned for him to sit in a chair.

Taking her orders without question, he sat himself in the chair and crossed his arms over his chest. "In your case I'd bet on you being a Billionaire, you are a tactical genius, you were responsible for the design of the old Huntstaff design, if you had decided to leave during a war and go into arms designing, you could have been huge"

"In some circles, I'm a legend, a Hero, I recently heard an 'Idol' and honestly I can't think of myself in any of those fashions," She said looking at him with the most serious face that Dallas had ever seen. "I was and am just very good at what I do"

Dallas shook his head with a grin. "No, you humble yourself, while you are good at the things that you do, you accomplished things that the Huntsman could never do, and in fact I'm amazed that you were never promoted or achieved that rank"

"Can you keep a secret?" Jackie responded with a smile.

He nodded. "Certainly, because I know what you'll do if I tell someone"

"Whatever you're thinking, you are probably right," She commented. "When I was about thirty six, The Huntsman died, and when it was narrowed down to who would replace him, it came to me and the Huntsman that proceeded Huntsman Sindacco-"

"Wait," Dallas said straightening up in his chair. "_Paul_ became Huntsman, _Paul Sindacco_? I was under the impression that the Huntsman despised him immensely"

Jackie waved him off. "I don't know that whole story, Rose and Erin can fill you in apparently yes he did, but as I was saying, it came down to me and the Huntsman that proceeded Huntsman Sindacco, I didn't want it, because I had just had Erin I had my Husband, so I resigned from the process and he became the Huntsman…"

"So you could have changed the way the Clan was run if you didn't have Erin?"

She nodded at him. "I guess that you could say that, but it was much more than that, I didn't want the responsibility, but the Huntsman was so grateful that I resigned, he told me that he knew they would have chosen me over him, so he promoted me to a Senior Huntress, I made a few weapons designs here and there, I killed a sitting member of the Dragon Council and I guess that's why I'm a legend in the Clan…"

"After you left though, no one talked about you, you weren't exactly a betrayer, but you were a deserter," Dallas interjected. "But all of us at the academy idolized you"

"That's what I hear" Jackie said with a smile.**

* * *

****Manhattan New York, The Long Family Apartment **

Do you ever have those moments were you're thinking something and it just slips out of your mouth? Well that's what happened to Rose when she told her husband that she wanted a Divorce from him. She wasn't so intent on doing it, but she would think about it heavily, she just wanted to scare him, and it apparently had worked. Now they all probably thought that she didn't know how to handle her anger, first she had shown them how she dealt with members of her family when they pissed her off. And now they showed her what happens when she got so offended and so hurt, a pang –more of a shock- of regret and sorrow filled her as she walked into the apartment.

She would make him suffer for a little while longer and then she would tell him that she loved him with her entire being, and she forgave him for his little lie. Rose would make Jake apologize, she would make him get down on his knees and beg for her to stay, she always won in these contests, and she would win this time too. That trip to the Isle of Draco had cleared her head, and the trip through the Palace to the portal was even more refreshing. And as she thought this, she spied her sister in-law on the couch. Now she was feeling even guiltier, it had royally pissed her off that she had punched her daughter in the face. But she was a big enough person to admit that she reacted very, very harshly. As Johnny, Erin, Mark and Alyssa entered the portal that had appeared in the living room, she turned and looked at them. "Where's Jake, right behind you?"

Alyssa shook her head. "He's gonna go to Lao Shi's grave and think, you know I just wanted to say that whatever your doing, worked, and it's making him think…"

"Did it?" She asked rather quietly, strangely quiet for Alyssa.

She nodded her head this time. "Yes, and do you want to hear my opinion, Mom?"

"Sure Honey," Rose responded. "I want to know what you think"

Alyssa folded her arms across her chest and frowned. "I think that you need to understand that Daddy loves you, and he didn't mean what he said about wishing that he'd never met you, and when it came to your pardon, was it that bad that he lied about the conditions? Was it so bad that he didn't want you feel only valuable for information? He just wanted to make sure that you felt loved by everyone"

"He told you that?" She asked curiously.

Again Alyssa nodded. "I was there at the vote, he said exactly that, he thought that it was the right thinking and that you needed to feel accepted by everyone"

"Wow," Rose said looking in the wall just beyond Alyssa, she was touched by that, and she was clearly showing it. "So he really said those things about me?"

Alyssa nodded her head emphatically this time. "Yes for the final time, he said that, now if you still want to get a divorce, please think it through, and think of all of us"

That was what she was going to do anyway. "Ok, but first, I need to go and apologize to someone that I inflicted bodily harm on, I hope you don't mind if I do that"

She motioned to the couch where Haley was sitting sipping on a glass of some drink that Alyssa assumed was alcohol, Alyssa also noticed that she was looking at Mother and Daughter with pure curiosity. She turned back to her mother. "Why in the hell do you want to do that? I mean did you not see what she did to me?"

"I know what she did to you Honey," Rose said shaking her head. "And frankly, if she does it again, I'll kill her outright with a gun, but I feel really bad for making her look like that and I need to go over there and apologize, it's something that I need to do"

Alyssa's shoulders slumped. "If you must, but I'm sure as hell not going too"

"I didn't expect you too, and I didn't want you too" She said with a wink

* * *

"Hey," Rose said quietly as she approached the couch. "I'm back"

Haley looked up to her and she made a motion with her head in some sort of greeting, she could understand if Haley didn't want to talk to her, but she was going to do this because she wouldn't feel right if she didn't. And she could tell that Haley didn't want her to sit down next to her, but she wasn't going to be forced off of the couch. Hell she had bought the damn couch this was her couch she was sitting on. "Look, I know your pissed at me, I would be pissed at the person who did all of that to me, but I'm trying to apologize. I should not have reacted the way I did, but can you blame me?"

"No," She finally broke her silence. "I'd do that to person who hit my daughter"

Rose smiled. "And if your brother had married someone a little less mean, than you probably wouldn't look and feel like you do, but he married the Huntsgirl, and you should have expected that I'd be that vicious, but I've cooled down now and I'm sorry"

"You know what, it's alright," Haley said turning to her. "Look, whatever Jake's told you about what happened when my parents split up it's all true, and if you're mad at me about that than I can understand, but you need to understand that is something for Jake and I to settle, not Jake, you and Alyssa and I. But it's water under the bridge"

She nodded her head taking her sister in-law's words into mind. "I understand, and I know that you must feel guilty over what happened, am I right when I think that?"

"Absoluutely" Haley slurred slightly.

Rose chuckled lowly. "Eh …what'cha drinking there, scotch, whiskey…?"

"Scotch," She said extending the hand that held her glass. "Want some?"

She waved it off with an amused grin. "No thanks, I have a bun in the oven"

"You're Pregnant? Oh my God!" She shouted loudly and enthusiastically.

"Be careful there, if you spill that on my couch, I'll make you clean it up when you wake up in the morning," Rose chided with a smile. "Do you need a bucket for the morning?"

Haley shook her head. "No, I'm gonna' stop after this one, I gotta' go pick up my son in a few hours, and I don't want him to see his mommy drunk! He's my baby boy"

Stifling back a laugh, Rose got up from the couch and reached over to pat her sister in-law on the shoulder. "Look Honey, Jake will be along soon to make sure that you're alright, I've got to go to Washington. We've got something to pick up for the Council"

As Rose was walking to the back to join her daughter, son in-law and friends, Haley shouted at the top of her lungs, "GOOD LUCK!" and then she turned back around taking sip after sip of the scotch. She certainly wasn't feeling any pain now.**

* * *

****The Mausoleum of the Pro Tempore line, Isle of Draco**

"It wasn't easy living all of these years without your guidance," Jake said as he looked at his Grandfather's tomb. "Why did you have to go then when I need you now?"

That was what he was feeling on so many levels, the Huntsclan was one thing, but the Dark Dragon was another thing entirely. And he and his Grandfather were the only Dragons that had managed to fight the dark one and live, but now only he was left and he was going to do everything he could to make sure that the title of '_Dragon's that fight the Dark Dragon and live to tell about it_' passed to his daughter and him. That was what his Grandfather would do, he was sure of it. And he wasn't sure if he would approve of the methods that the Dragons were now taking to kill the Dark Dragon, he would say that a weapon that can do that should never see the light of day. And on some level, Jake agreed with that completely, but in this case the ends justified the means. He had to think of what could be lost here, his family, his kids, and not to mention the destruction of his species both Magical and Human.

Jake smiled at the casket. "Got any advice for your old student Gramps? Wait don't tell me, I'm being impulsive, foolish and brash? I need to know what I'm doing wrong here"

Why on Earth was he sitting here talking to a damn casket? It would no answers and he Grandfather wouldn't be coming back for a visit anytime soon. Jake slapped his sides and let out a mirthless chuckle. "And now I'm having marriage problems, I should have known that marrying her would entail a lot of crap, but I love her and I wouldn't have given the time we've had together for anything. But now I think I might have screwed up royally and now she wants to leave me and get divorced, what the hell am I doing?"

"I know what you're probably thinking right now, that it'll probably work itself out and everything will be fine," Jake said to the tomb. "But Gramps I can't help but think that I blew it with her, I blew it with the girl of my dreams, oh how stupid I've become"**

* * *

****Manhattan New York, The Long Family Apartment, Rose's Armory **

Erin missed doing this, she missed getting ready to go on missions, she missed the thrill of knowing that she was about to accomplish something that she wanted. And as Erin fitted herself with a thick bullet proof vest, she still felt that thrill. "Hey Rose," She asked. "Do you still fire the Beretta, I'd imagine you'd get tired of that old gun"

Laughing in response, Rose clutched a large gun that she was holding, she was already loading it with a new magazine. "This one I'm holding was the one Johnny used to kill Paul, so how do you feel about the Beretta's now?"

"I have a new found respect for them," Erin said as she fastened the last latch on the body armor, then she turned and smiled at Rose. "So what's our plan of action for Dallas, are we gonna storm the building in a hail of gunfire, or are we gonna track him"

Rose shrugged. "I guess I'll call your mom, find out where he's at or where she has him and I'm betting it's the latter, we'll meet her, and will question him"

"And what are we going to do about Mark, Alyssa and Johnny?" She asked.

"Alyssa will be coming, so will Johnny, and I suppose Mark can too," Rose responded as she holstered the gun. "I'll need some look out's or if it's in a secluded place, we'll need someone to assist us in breaking him"

Erin laughed and shook her head. "I can't see Mark helping me torture someone"

"_Torture_? Do you even remember Dallas?" Rose asked with a smile.

She nodded her head. "Somewhat, he was kind of a pervert"

"Exactly," Rose bit her lip. "I never told you this, but about a week after we mixed together the exact formula for the Nerve Gas, I overheard him talking with …eh… what was his name? Mark Weldon? Yea, they were talk about us, as in girls, not hunters"

She smiled and looked at Rose curiously. "Tell me more"

"Well, get this, I heard Mark say that every time he eh…, how do I say this, _Relieved himself_ before he went to bed, he would picture _you and me, getting it on_," Rose said with a rather childish giggle at the memory. "And that wasn't the part that disgusted me the most"

Erin's mouth was hanging open. "And the thought of you and me having sex isn't gross"

Her friend shrugged. "I don't roll that way, but I guess it wouldn't be _bad_ I mean if we had to do it I probably wouldn't hate it, but I'm gonna get off of that question before I say something else that can damage our friendship"

"Ok," Erin said shaking her head in amusement. "What disgusted you the most?"

"It was that Dallas agreed with him, and he said he did it too," She said shaking in disgust. "And he went on into details that were funny as hell, and a little perverted"

She put two and two together in her head, and then the four came in her mind. "Oh, oh…you want you use that, because he thought us having sex when he was younger"

"Yea, I mean, that is an advantage we could use, I mean we could probably just kiss each other for a few minutes, maybe flash him once or twice and we'll have it" Rose said not really wanting to look at Erin's face right now.

Erin put her hands on her hips and laughed. "I guess, and by the way Honey, I could have had you if I wanted you"

"And the fun part about that would be, who would be the man and who would be the woman," She mocked. "_It's my turn to be unselfish and giving_, _no you had unselfish and giving, it's your turn to be caring and nurturing,_ _no I want to be top you be bottom_"

Erin laughed again. "Oh my god, and we could share PMS dates"

"It sounds like a paring made in heaven" Rose mocked.**

* * *

****AN:/ Off to Washington in the next chapter, and by the way, I wasn't sure if I should even write the Rose/Erin shtick at the bottom. But I couldn't resist, if it was rather suggestive then I'm sorry, but it's a comedy gold mind, and it's important when it comes to Dallas, Rose and Erin. If you one of _those _people who are offended by that sort of stuff, come on, it's just a story. Anyway, please leave a review.**


	24. Brother's Son's and Vodka

**Chapter 23 **

Why wasn't she surprised that the New Jersey Turnpike was packed at four in the morning? Rose slammed on her horn angrily as the semi truck in front of her seemed to stop. She took a look around in her mirrors and found that she was almost completely surrounded by semi's, the only other cars that carried passengers was one to her left and the car of her daughter who was following closely behind her. She couldn't carry five people in her car, so before they had left New York City, she had made Alyssa walk to the parking garage that she stored her car in. It wasn't as bad as it sounded, they stored their car in a parking garage only three blocks away from her parent's apartment, and Rose knew that her daughter was not afraid to walk on the street at night. "Mom," She heard Johnny say. "Did you call Grandma?"

"No," Erin responded. "I think she can handle herself pretty good"

Rose didn't tell them, but she had told Jackie that if she felt she needed to contain –and by that she meant kidnap- Dallas then she needed to. The man was a CEO of a Weapons design firm, he had resources that she didn't have at the moment and if he felt spooked then he could easily hop on a plane and go to some country on the other side of the earth and she would never be able to find him. So it was a risk that she would have to take. But she felt that she needed to let the others in on her 'suggestion' to the legendary Huntress. "I asked her to capture Dallas if she felt she needed too"

"What? Are you crazy Rose," Erin said, more surprised by the fact that she didn't to her about this earlier. "If he is the head of that company than he is probably being watched by the Government, and if they find that he's been kidnapped then they are going to track him and us down and when they find us they're going to greet us with a hail of gunfire"

She shrugged. "Oh, you've gotten soft, what you think a few Government Agents are going to scare us? We'd take 'em down in seconds…"

"Two things, number one no I have not, and number two no they won't but I don't want that monkey on my back for the rest of my life," Erin said hotly astounded by the fact that her friend would gamble like this. "Ok think about this rationally, they have cameras more than likely and they'll take our pictures, they'll find out who we are and they'll come back for us…"

It didn't take Rose long to just have enough of her pessimism. "I know that Erin, and if it is true that he's being followed by the US Government, then we won't leave until we take out the detail that's following him if there is one, and we'll make sure to destroy the evidence, is that alright with you?"

"I suppose your right," She shrugged. "What weapons did you bring?"

"Besides the guns that we brought, I have a Sawed off Shotgun in the trunk, some knifes, and I have to admit I have some more Guns back there too," She smiled into the rearview mirror at Erin. "Say Mark, do you know how to handle a Gun? Because I have a feeling that you'll need a weapon if you'll be with us from here on, because from this point it gets very dangerous"

She saw the man shrug. "Dangerous as in more big bad evil Dragons…?"

"No," Rose shook her head. "The US Government, and the Huntsclan"

"Well I thought that the Huntsclan was gone?" Mark asked curiously.

With a smile she noted how observant he was, but he had to be for someone who hadn't really talked much. "Yes they are, but I have a strong feeling that what we _need_ is in a place that they designed, and they designed their Lair's and fortress's with so many traps and fail safes that if you go into one of them with us then you will need a gun. You or Alyssa for that matter will not be prepared for what they've got, the rest of us will be…"

"I can recall one time I forgot to enter my pass code when I wanted to go to the dormitories, and I had to outrun a pack of dogs," Erin interjected with a wry grin. "I had to shoot all of them, which I really hated myself for doing"

Johnny tuned to look at his mother. "I remember when I was fourteen, I was going to see my father, and I made the mistake of not deactivating the security measures around his chambers, and when I realized it, it was too late, so I ended up doing a god damn acrobatic routine to avoid the bullets"

Then he looked over at Rose. "I'm sure you have plenty of these stories"

"Don't get me started," Rose rolled her eyes. "Dogs, Bullets, Lasers, Giants, My Uncle's Body Guards, Giant stone blocks, big pointy things, etcetera…"

"I can only image what the big pointy things were" Erin mused.

Again Rose rolled her eyes and sighed. "You don't want to know"

The three former Hunters all shared a laugh, and Mark looked at them as if they had three heads. "You all are seriously crazy, but you're all tough"

"Crazy, yes," Erin said smiling. "Tough, _oh_ yes"

"Crazy? I'd prefer to call it '_Mentally unhinged_' that's what I've called it for the past eighteen years," Rose said grinning as flash of her memories passed through her mind. "But it's strange, I got a CAT scan a few months ago, and nothing was wrong with me, I didn't have a hormone imbalance"

Erin narrowed her eyes in amusement. "Dose _insanity_ show up on that?"

"Hell…if…I…know…" Rose said drawing out each individual word.

**Manhattan New York, The Long Family Apartment **

When Jake stepped out of the portal, he felt like crap, he just wanted to crawl up into bed and just imagine that this day had never happened. But it had, his sister had returned from some self imposed exile in China, his wife was pregnant for the sixth time and now his aforementioned wife wanted a divorce. He wondered what could happen today that could make it possibly go any worse. Was the Dark Dragon going to tear off the roof of his Apartment Building? When he walked outside, were the pigeons going to take a crap on only him? Was he going to get drunk and go sit outside his Father's Apartment yelling slurs at the door? He didn't' know, but getting drunk sounded very good right now. And he saw that chance when he walked into his living room and saw his sister, passed out, he noted with amusement that she had fallen asleep with a glass in her hand. And he could see the scotch colored stain on the couch, if Rose wasn't going to kill her than she was going to seriously beat the hell out of her.

Smiling, he turned and walked into the kitchen, and then he walked over to wood cabinet that held the liquor. Squatting down, he lightly unlatched the small lock that was on it, and opened the door. There was a lot of alcohol in there, Whiskey, Tequila, Vodka, Peach Schnapps –that was more of Rose's drink, he hated the taste of it- Wine, and he had another bottle of scotch. A set of small glasses lined the back of the cabinet, they were a set of five shot glasses and they had only been used once. Jake couldn't hardly remember that night, but he did know that the kids were at Alyssa's that night and the other thing he recalled was he and his wife doing so many shots that they were drunk off of their asses. And if the math was correct that was the night that the twins were conceived, Rose had always told him that was a really bad guess, but he knew that was true. His twin sons were conceived after shooting a whole bottle of Vodka. He grasped the first bottle that he saw, careful to avoid the Wine and Schnapps, then he grabbed one of the shot glasses adorning the back. Lightly shutting the door to the cabinet, he grasped the bottle tightly and smiled, '_Ah Joy, I was hoping that I'd pick this one' _it was the precious Vodka.

Maybe he could relieve some stresses that he felt today.

**30 Minutes Later, Outside of Bethesda Maryland at the home of Dallas Grey**

"Just how long do you think they'll be? I have to be in Greenwich Connecticut in five hours for a board meeting," Dallas remarked, it was more to himself he noticed, Jackie looked utterly bored. "I mean I might try to escape if I'm held up any longer, so do you think you can call them?"

Jackie who was sitting on his couch, unfastened the clip on her side holster to withdrawal the gun. She pointed it at the captive who was sitting in the chair with his hands bound together with rope and cocked it. She wore a face of bland irritancy. "I told you that I would make you suffer if you didn't corporate, now I do suggest that you shut up, and I'll call them"

"That's all I ask" Dallas said quietly.

The Huntress withdrew her cell phone from her pocket and quickly dialed her son in-law's number, she would have called her daughter if she hadn't know that Erin didn't have her cell phone on her. Putting it up to her ear, she waited, it rang, and rang again, and then she blew out a sigh of relief when Mark answered. "Jackie! They were all just talking about you"

"I'm sure good things were said?" Jackie said flatly.

Mark laughed. "Yea, Yea, I know you don't want to talk with me, so who?"

"Whoever is driving the car, Rose, Erin, Johnny, Alyssa?" She prodded.

"Hold on a second, I'll hand you to Rose" Mark said.

A moment passed and she could hear a voice that could only have belonged to her Daughter. Then she heard Rose's voice, she sounded annoyed by the fact that she was going to have to talk on a phone and drive at the same time. "We've just crossed the state line into Pennsylvania, I say we're about and two and half hours away"

"There's been a change in plans" Jackie said not taking her eyes or aim off of Dallas.

"What? What do you mean?" Rose said hotly.

Jackie rolled her eyes at the girls temper. "I had been watching the Building for a half an hour, then on my radio scanner I picked up a limousine service channel, and they were sending someone out to pick him up, I left, intercepted the car, incapacitated the driver –don't worry she's alright- put on his clothes, they fit surprisingly, then I picked up and I pointed a gun at him, told him about what's going on, and he offered no resistance"

"Do not trust him for a second," Rose said. "He was always a liar"

She nodded to herself. "Yes I know, this isn't my first rodeo kid, oh hold on a second"

Noticing that Dallas was fidgeting, she pushed herself up from the couch and aimed the gun at his crouch, she cocked it and scowled at the man. "Do you _want_ me to shoot you in a place that meant to be treated nicely?"

"No!" Dallas practically screamed at her.

"Then shut up, and be still," She said retracting the gun and putting the phone up to her ear again. "Did you hear that?"

Rose was actually laughing. "Yes I did and I wish I could see his face, so is he giving you problems?"

"A few," Jackie commented. "He brought me out here to his big ass mansion in Bethesda, you know where that is?"

"Yea, I've been there a few times, I'll call you when I get into town," Rose said. "And if he give you any problems, shoot him in the legs or in the foot or something and that'll shut him up, or better yet just kick him in the crouch…"

Jackie smiled. "I might just do all of that"

**The Long Family Apartment, Manhattan New York**

Haley had woken up, to the sound of Jake laughing hardily, her drunken state had worn off to the point where she was almost sober, but she still slightly drunk. She looked at the table and sitting next to bottle of scotch that she had been drinking out of was a bottle of Vodka that was half empty! She had seen it earlier but it was full, she raised her eyebrows '_wow_' he was hitting it hard. Her eyes were bloodshot, and her back was stinging in pain, as was her face. "Eh, Jake…uh, I was trying to sleep"

Her brother looked at her with a bugged expression, and he began to laugh. "Well helloooo there!"

"How much Vodka have you had?" She asked stifling a laugh.

Jake pointed at the bottle and his bugged expression returned. "Wha…What is tat…half of the bot-thing"

Apparently that was a lot of a alcohol her brother was slurring all of his words and even though he was sitting down he was weaving from side to side. Haley reached over and took the Vodka bottle in her hand, and she almost dropped it from the shock. "Jake, this is almost pure alcohol, are c-crazy or what!"

"HEY! I can driinnk that! I paid for the thing," He yelled drunkenly. "Besides I'm getting a _Divorce_!"

Haley, who was still holding the bottle, almost dropped it. "What! She didn't tell me anything about it"

"Well she said to my face back at that …eh…Isle of Dracoo…," Jake slurred. "Cold hearted bitch!"

Then the phone rang, breaking their banter. The ringing that was coming from the in table behind her was making her head throb. Twisting back, she grabbed the phone and made a gesture to Jake that in one simple hand movement meant '_Shut up you idiot'_ and then she pressed the button. Holding it up to her ear she could the sound of a woman speaking over what sounded like an intercom, and people where talking in the background. It sounded like an airport.

"Hello?" She sounded groggy.

"Hi Mom, I'm just checking in with you" Luong said, he sounded like he was very tired.

Haley immediately shot up, she cursed herself for that, as her head began to spin. "Oh…Oh sweetheart, I wasn't expecting your call, how are you doing?"

"I'm very tired right now," Luong responded. "My flight got delayed at the crossover I'm in Los Angeles"

"Oh so you'll be late getting heree then?" Haley said noticing that she slurred slightly.

And then she knew that he had heard that. "Mom, are you alright?"

"Oh yea, I had a few drinks, and I passed out, you caught me after I woke up," Haley sighed. "But everything fine for the moment, I'm just so glad that your coming"

* * *

**AN:/ I didn't give Luong enough lines I think, but it'll pick up with the rest of this conversation. I hope you enjoyed reading this update as much as I enjoyed writing it. Anyways please leave a review. **


	25. Attacks and Reminiscing

**Chapter 24 **

Luong didn't know why he was doing this, he wasn't particularly fond of his mother anymore, but when she had called him and told him of some evil thing that was killing members of her family then that scared him immensely. And when she had suggested that he come to the states and that she could protect him from this thing then that filled him with a way out, and the price was one that he was willing to pay. He would have to face his mother, he would have to face his mother's family and he was going to do it if it meant that they could save him and stop whatever was doing this. "Honey? Honey are you still there?"

"Yea I'm still here," He said with a sigh, he ran his hand through his black hair. "You'll be there to pick me up when I arrive in New York, in a few hours, or do I need to call a cab to take me to wherever you are?"

"No, I'll be there and my brother will take me" She said. "I really can't wait to see you"

He didn't say what he was thinking right now, because in all honesty he didn't want to get into a fight with his mother, but he really could wait to see her. So he decided to lie. "I know Mom, I can't either"

"Alright, what Airport are you going to try to touch down in, La Guardia or JFK?" She asked.

"I think it's La Guardia," Luong answered who was staring up at the flight arrival/departure boards. "Hope you don't mind?"

"No I don't, in fact I think it's closer than JFK," Haley responded. "That's really convenient for us"

Luong sighed irritably, and he let it pour into his voice, he wanted to send a non-verbal message to his mother that he really didn't want to talk right now. He hated airports and there was something about American airports that just infuriated him, he had been to America four times prior in his life and he had never been further than California, he spoke English fluently and it was his second language, but the only times he ever spoke it was with his mother. "I tried to make it convenient, listen Mom I need to go I really need to make sure I've got a flight"

"Ok honey," Haley said with a resigned sigh. "Just be sure to call me when you touch down at La Guardia"

**Twenty Years Ago, Franklin County New York, Huntsclan Academy Complex, Dragon Nerve Gas Facility**

_This needed to be done, this weapon no matter how brilliantly it was designed, it needed to be stored away because it posed a threat to both them and the Dragons. And the Huntsman would have allowed it to be used if it only posed a threat to the latter. It was too dangerous to be dismantled, he was told that and initially he didn't believe that, but then he was shown conclusive evidence to the contrary so he was going to make sure that it was locked away in someplace safe and under heavy guard. He stood and watched as his personal bodyguards and servants worked on the computer database and he noticed angrily that the team assigned to extract the weapon was just staring at it. "How hard is it to take the weapon out?" _

_"Master," One of them said. "Someone has destroyed the robotic arms that were used to build the weapon itself, it will take time to replace them" _

_He shook his head irritably, the team of three that were assigned to his were the only people who could have possibly done that, one of them who was the daughter of one of the most powerful Hunters to ever be in the Huntsclan would never do it, she was loyal. The second one was his own apprentice and 'niece' and she would never do that, he knew this and no matter how much she had been messing up lately she would never go this far. And that left only one, and he was the most logical assumption, that boy, that Dallas Grey did do it, he was sure of that. "Where is Dallas Grey?" _

_"Who, Huntsman?" His attendant asked. _

_The Huntsman turned to him. "The third person on this project where is he?" _

_"I do not know," He answered. "Do you wish to speak with him?" _

_No, he didn't need to talk to him, he did this and he would make the boy pay for what he had done. "No I do not, what I do want however is the boy dead, I want him destroyed and I want his corpse brought back to me immediately after he is dead, he did this and I want him to suffer for it" _

_"Do you want me to send orders to the Huntsgirl?" The man suggested. _

_In other circumstances, yes, he would send his apprentice out to find that boy. But she had been here and she had helped develop the weapon, and she didn't know that he was doing this, and even though he didn't know if the both the Huntsgirl and Dallas Grey had grown together emotionally he didn't want to take the risk. He didn't want her to hesitate. "No, in fact I want you to take steps to keep this from her until I decided to tell her this" _

_"My Lord?" The attendant asked. _

_Yes, this was how it would be. "You heard me Lieutenant, keep this from her as long as possible, and understand this, if she finds out before I tell her you will pay the price, I will kill you and make you suffer painfully!" _

_"Understood!" The attendant said fearfully. _

**Bethesda Maryland, at the home of Dallas Grey**

He didn't expect to even come into contact with the Huntsclan ever again, he had managed to get a head start that night and he had escaped with his life but without his pride. Dallas had learned that night that his project was going to be dismantled and hidden away, and that angered him to no end, then he decided that he would no longer be in the Huntsclan and as a last act of defiance he destroyed the equipment that was used to build the weapon itself. He knew that the Huntsman would know that it was him right away, so he ran, he just ran, he ran through the forest and to the nearest town and caught a bus and went so far south from Franklin New York that he ended up in Maryland. And then he built his life here in Maryland, and that had transformed him from a second rate Hunter/Scientist into man worth over four hundred million dollars and the CEO and Chairman of the world's largest weapon's firm. That had overinflated ego to the point that he was just so offended that this woman was holding up his time here in his house. "Jackie, I'm not kidding, I need to go now!"

"Didn't I tell you to shut up?" Jackie snapped irritably.

"Yes, you did," Dallas responded. "But I need to go, I'll tell you were the weapon was put, because I need to go"

"Shut up now! We're going to wait for them to get here and I'll let you call your board and tell them that you'll be late, and you are not leaving, do not mistake that," Jackie snarled. "Do you want to do that, or do you want me to wire your jaw shut? Because I do have a little kit of tools I brought in case I needed to quiet you down"

Dallas was surprised that she knew how to do that. "You wouldn't wire my jaw shut"

"Do you want to call that bluff?" She asked with an amused look.

That was a definite no. "No, but I must insist that you let me cal-"

Then it happened, the large window of the living room smashed from the impact of a bullet, several bullets really and Dallas was thankful that they had missed. He looked over to find Jackie, but she wasn't there, she was springing into action, she was grasping a gun and looking at the now exposed window. Then she moved over behind the chair that Dallas was in and she pushed the chair forward to throw him to the ground. "Get covered"

He knew how to avoid getting killed, he immediately crawled to take cover behind the couch. "What's happening?"

"I don't know!" Jackie yelled as she brought her gun up and fired and the exposed window.

Outside there was forest, and Jackie with her technical sense knew that whoever was firing at them was taking cover in those trees. And she would have to wait until the right moment to return fire. But that chance was ruined by the sound of three bullet shots, and thankfully they all struck the wall behind her, then she dove to the floor and crawled quickly to a position that was similar to Dallas's. Whoever these people where, they were going to get it.

*** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ****AN:/This is meant to be a short chapter, it doesn't mean I got lazy it's length serves a purpose. Anyway, these are the questions you must ask yourself, who is has starting shooting at Jackie and Dallas? Will our merry band of hunters (and Mark) get there in time? Will Luong accept his mother's side of his family? And will Jake drink himself to death before he finds out that Rose is playing him? Please think about these questions. **


	26. Escapes and Misery

**Chapter 25**

**Bethesda Maryland, Outside the Home of Dallas Grey**

They were the detail in charge of keeping track of Grey, it was a direct order from the Secretary of Defense that this man be kept track of in case his dealing where with people that weren't too fond of the United States. The mission leaders name was Barry Lindstrom, and this was by far the strangest thing that he had ever seen Dallas Grey do. And he wasn't sure if he should even intervene at first, and when he did, he expected the woman that was from the looks of it holding his target hostage to die, but she didn't and that was a sign that he should take full measures of making sure that whoever this woman worked for didn't get his expertise in weapons.

As he heard the impact of the return fire hit the tree trunk that he was standing behind, he nodded to his three counterparts. In the blink of an eye they brought up their Assault Rifles and blindly hailed gunfire down on their vantage point of the house. Lindstrom's orders were simple, extract Dallas Grey if possible if he came into any perceived danger, but he also had orders to kill Grey to make sure that he couldn't be used by any foreign or domestic enemies. "Commander, we are still reading two heat signatures"

He sighed irritably; this was going to get complicated. "Suggestions?"

"Storm the house with a detail of six men" One of his Lieutenants offered.

That was his other option, or he could just have his whole detail of a dozen men fire their weapons into the house. Barry didn't know what to do, so he would make a compromise, one that could possible pay massive dividends or make him lose everything, including Grey. "Continue firing until I say…"

**Bethesda Maryland, Inside the Home of Dallas Grey**

For Jackie Hutchinson, this was the most exhilarating thing she had experienced in about twenty years. She missed this excitement, and though it would scare most people, it made her charged and it presented her with a challenge that she would want to overcome. Behind the couch, she contemplated what she was going to do, she knew that the couch could be seen from the window and a part of the back could be seen. So if she was going to do this correctly than she needed to make no mistakes whatsoever.

"I think I might know who these people are!" Dallas said rather shocked.

She glared at him. "Who? It'll help our chances of escaping a lot"

"I-It's just a guess," Dallas responded. "But a few months ago, I began to get the suspicion that I was being followed everywhere I went I was being followed, so I hired a team to follow me and scope it out, and I was indeed"

Jackie didn't want the story, if she was going to hear any of this story than she wanted the summary. "Just cut the crap and tell me who it was"

"The Government, specifically a team made up of combined elements of the NSA, FBI and CIA," Dallas answered. "Its overkill I think"

That indeed did help her in her thinking about what to do, she knew the pattern of these Government Agencies. She had been informed of them when she was a Senior Huntress, and she was told them if she ever attracted their attention in a high profile assignment. Jackie knew how to counter them and escape, but the only hitch was, she didn't know if they had updated their way.

"Now listen and listen very closely," Jackie said. "On the count of three, I want you to crawl on your stomach towards that wall and keeping making your way until you reach your garage, I'll lay down some distraction fire, and then I'll join you, and so help me if you try to leave without me, I'll rip-"

Dallas rolled his eyes and nodded. "You'll rip my heart out and make me eat it, yes I will not leave you here, and I need you in case they follow me"

With a sigh she resigned herself into think that was her one insurance policy with the man. A few more seconds passed before she nodded and she quickly stood up and fired, she watched out of the corner of her eye as the man that she had kidnapped and was now rescuing was crawling to the side wall that she had instructed him to do. Maybe this would work out very well in the end.

**Los Angeles California, Los Angeles International Airport**

It had been the shock of his life when his mother had told him the family secret, and the shock was still evident four years later. As a son, he loved his mother because his mother had never done anything to him to make him hate her that way. But as a person, as a person with his own feelings, he disliked his mother for not telling him or his father. The thought of her lie made him angry to no end whatsoever, but he had to start getting over it now if he wanted to live, on some level, something was telling him that. He had to be honest with himself, when his mother had transformed into whatever she was, he thought it was fascinating, in a good way. But the anger over her lying hadn't dissipated at all. Maybe he could get a chance to settle all of that with his mother now, he missed her motherly love, and even though it was hard for him to admit, he missed his mother entirely. And when she had mentioned that she was staying with his Uncle, he was very curious. When he was a kid, he had always wanted to meet his Uncle Jake, his mother had shown him pictures and home movies and that had just roused his curiosity even more.

It hadn't hit him yet as he sat in the LAX terminal that in just a few hours, he was going to meet that man that he had wanted to meet since he was seven years old. He probably had cousins too, on his father's side he had only one cousin, but he probably had more with the American portion of his family. In fact he was counting on that fact. Luong was actually excited to see how the other half of his family lived, and he was somewhat anxious to know if they would accept him into their family. He hoped so, so very much and if they thought of him as an outsider, and he was really worried of that, than it would crush him.

**Manhattan New York, The Long Family Apartment **

"And again when I was fifteen," Jake recited to his sister. "When Rose dumped me because she thought I was becoming a distraction to her with to her duties in that _damn_ Clan, but she got back together with me not long after that, so it was all ok"

This had been going on for about an hour now and frankly it was getting very tiring, and besides that fact, she knew all of this, she was there and she saw him tear himself up after it all. And now that they were very much older, instead of drowning in depression, he was drowning in Vodka apparently. "Do you need me to call anyone?"

"Wha-Oh Yea, I need you to call Trixie and Spud," Jake slurred. "Can you do that?"

She hadn't seen those to in so long, she didn't even know how to contact them, and maybe Jake was just suffering a delusion. "Jake, Honey. Do you know where they are?"

"Uh no, I haven't seen Spud in like nineteen years, but I have Trixe's number, please Haley, will you please tell one of them to come over?" Jake said overdramatically.

Haley nodded. "I'll do that, but do you think I should do it now, I mean she's probably sleeping right now and it'll be rude to wake her up in the middle of the night"

"I don't care," Jake said. "Just leave her a message if you have to, I want to see her"

She sighed, alright, like she would have any other choice anyway, Jake was drunk and if she didn't call Trixie than he would and personally Haley would much prefer to talk to her than letting her overly drunk brother do it. "Alright, where's the number?"

**Baltimore Maryland, Thirty Miles away from Bethesda Maryland. **

Despite everything that was going on, the Dark Dragon, Dallas Grey and the fighting with her husband, the only thing that she could think about was her husband. She was able to look beyond the fighting and everything that had happened tonight, and see the person that she had fallen in love with so very long ago. She loved Jake so much, she loved him so much so much that it had brought a bright smile to her face. And the guilt was just eating her up about making him question if she loved him or not but she did, and she would die before she even contemplated leaving him. Besides her love for him, they had children that they needed to take care of, all of whom hadn't even reached the age where they had to go to school, and another one was on the way. Not to mention their first child, who would be surprised and shocked if her parents got a divorce, and Rose didn't want any of her children to feel that, she wanted to protect them. "Rose," Erin said. "It's my mother"

Her friend had a cell phone in her hand, and making an irritated noise at the back of her throat, she reached back and grabbed it. Holding it up to her ear, she scowled the moment she heard the unquestionable sound of gun fire. "Jackie? What's happening…"

"You neglected to inform me that Dallas was being watched by the United States Government," Jackie said. "They followed us out to his house and now I'm trying to get out of here with my life and his, so any suggestions? I'm sure we can't meet here now"

Rose shook her head in frustration, she had taken that gamble and she had lost miserably now she was going to have to cover her ass before she got screwed. And the first act would have to be getting Jackie and Dallas out of there before something bad happened to them, if Dallas was killed than she would lose all hope, and if Jackie was killed she would never forgive herself for sending the woman down to retrieve him in the first place. "Ok, I need to think her for a moment, alright, do you know what agency is shooting at you?"

"All of them, The CIA, FBI and NSA," Jackie responded.

The Huntsgirl sighed. "Oh boy, ok, stay as low as possible to the ground, and then you make your way to method of escape, if you can it to a car without being shot than congrats you've evaded them, when you get into a car you need to haul ass out of there and we'll meet somewhere in a populated urban area, sound like a plan?"

"Alright," Jackie said. "And by the way is there anything that I should know about? Do they have special methods of watching the house, infrared sensors? Things like that?"

Rose nodded her head. "Yea, they'll probably be monitoring the house with infrared binoculars, so you'll need to be prepared for that, call me when you get away from there, ok?"

"Alright" Jackie said and then she abruptly hung up.

Shaking her head she wondered what the hell she was going to do, the Government was watching Dallas and they were now shooting at Jackie. Now they were going to keep chasing them and it was a pain in the ass to evade the Government, but it was possible, Rose had even done it a few times in her life and now she was going to have re visit a few strategies. It took her a few minutes for her muscles to react, and then she handed the phone to her son in-law who was sitting in the passenger seat. "Dial Alyssa's number then hand it back to me"

It was a few moments later, and then Johnny handed the phone back to Rose, bringing it up to her ear she tapped the steering wheel a few times before her daughter picked up. "Hello?"

"Honey," Rose said. "You're going to have to follow my instructions, very, very closely"

* * *

**AN:/ If you weren't expecting the Government to be the ones who were shooting at Jackie and Dallas, I'm rather surprised, Rose and Erin have suspected that he was being watched by them and now that's confirmed. Trixie will make her one and _only_ appearance in the next chapter, I've always ignored her and Spud for two reasons, I didn't know how to write them and they weren't important in the big picture. And my main reason for ignoring the both of them is because they aren't my favorite characters anyway. Please, if you would, leave a review for your author. Oh and to those of you who are following _'Cherish' _there will not be a new update until after _this_ story is finished. And I'm hoping to wrap this up by the end of this month, early September at most. I just really want to get the next story started, I'm so excited and I really want all of you to see it. Enough of my rambling, leave a review.**


	27. Old Friends

**Chapter 26 **

She had gone through with it even though it had embarrassed the hell out of her, Haley had called the number that Jake had shown her belonged to Trixie and sure enough she had reached the woman. Trixie no longer spoke with that teenage slang that she had been known for, on the phone she sounded grown up and to be honest that had almost made Haley laugh, Trixie grownup? That seemed stupendously impossible. With a little maneuvering she had convinced the woman to come by and talk to Jake, she had basically told her everything that she understood. She said that's she would be over within the hour, and she had also told her to never call her home at four o'clock in the morning ever again.

"Jake," Haley said. "She said that she would come by and see how you're doing"

Her older brother's eyes widened. "She is…..wow, I haven't seen her in yeaars, but how is sheee?"

"A little irritated that she had to do this at the time it is now, but ok." Haley responded, amused by Jake's heavy slurring.

And then Jake laughed, which caused her to giggle slightly as she set herself back down on the couch with a heavy wearisome sigh. She was exhausted to the bone, ever since she had arrived here she had been attacked and had the crap beaten out of her, she had been drunk, now she was sort of hung over. It was amazing how much could happen to her in the few hours that she had been back here, now she had to deal with her brother's drunken antics, or more, drunken sad ramblings. "Honey, are you so sure that Rose wants to get divorced and leave you? Are you so sure about everything?"

Jake shrugged lazily. "She convinced me that she wants that, and what pisses me off even more is that I'm not prepared to lose her, I don't know that the hell I'll do, but there is the possibility that she's playing with me, which if that's the case here I'll be the one who so pissed off I'll leave her ass, she better not be doing that shit to me or I'll be so mad"

"She's not that cruel" Haley commented.

"Yes she is," Jake shot back at her. "I've been with her since I was fourteen years old, I know how she works, and I know how she thinks and _nothing _absolutely _nothing_ is beyond her capability, the ends justify the means with her, she'd do anything I know that"

That was a logical thought, Haley had to admit that and she couldn't deny it either, from what she knew from her sister in-law she completely agreed with her brother in that drunken state. "I guess you have a point, but how can you know? She's unpredictable"

"Damn right, and that's one of things I love about her," Jake shut his eyes and Haley could swear that he was almost crying. "Ah God, I don't know how I'm going to go one without her in my life, can I ask you a question Haley? Did I make a big mistake?"

She blinked. "A mistake, what do you think this mistake you made is?"

"Did I make a mistake by being with her," Jake responded quietly. "Do you think I should have tried my best to ignore her when we were school? Was that the mistake?"

No she didn't think that, she was there and she saw how happy Rose made him, why was he thinking all of this? Was it because she said that she wanted out? Mentally she just shrugged, it was probably the vodka. "You know Jake, I don't think you should be talking about all of these things, that's the bottle of Vodka that you drank…"

"You didn't answer my question though" Jake whined.

Now she shrugged. "I really don't know if I should answer that, that's more of something that you need to decide, you built your life with this woman, you've had five kids with her and you have another one on the way, you two have survived so much and I don't know that answer, but if you are going to think this way, do it when your sober. Don't you think that's more logical to do that?"

**Outside Bethesda Maryland in route away from Dallas Grey's Home **

In the scheme of things, a limousine hurtling down a dirt road at the fastest it could go was _a little_ attention grabbing. But that's the only way that she could affect a quick getaway from these Government agents, she didn't know if they realized that she and Dallas were able to leave the home but they weren't following her and she took that as a very good sign. When she had finally made it to the garage, she had practically tossed the man into the back and she peeled out of that home with a kind of driving that she had never even done before in her life. And now she was waiting to get to a place safe enough to call Rose and tell her that she managed to escape the house without getting killed. But she needed to focus on getting out of there alive.

"Where the hell are we going?" Dallas shouted looking behind at his home.

Jackie slammed both of her hands on the steering wheel in frustration. "Shut up you little basterd! I'll tell you when I get the call, but now you need to shut the hell up now!"

**In route to Washington D.C, in the vehicle of Rose and Jake Long **

In her entire life, she had never been able to get to do what she actually wanted to do with her time. She just wanted to lie on a beach stretched out with her husband beside her, sipping margaritas and passing the days away. That would be her ideal life, but no, she was pregnant and having to pull her family's collective ass out of the fire …again… and she couldn't believe that she was admitting this, but she felt as if she was getting too old to do this. That thought actually made her stomach churn, she had been able to do anything that she had set her mind too since she was old enough to walk and talk, and now in her mid thirties she was beginning to feel actually unable to do all of that.

Maybe it was the kid on the way? That had to be the most logical reason for her useless feelings? Or maybe it was the fact that she was dead tired, and all she wanted to do at the moment was lie down in her bed and sleep. Whatever it was, she wanted that feeling to stop, at least until this was all over. It had to stop, she had to be strong and confident to accomplish the things that she wanted. "Erin, do you have the phone?"

"Yes," She responded. "Is not the time that I call her?"

Rose nodded. "That's correct, we need to get to some place that wouldn't attract to much attention so that we can do this correctly, send a text message to Alyssa as well tell her to begin putting the plan into effect, put some strong emphasis, and I mean it"

"Plan?" Erin questioned as she accepted the cell phone from her husband.

She narrowed her eyes, and Erin instantly knew that look, she looked over to her Husband who was looking at her questioningly. "She's got that '_I've got something up my sleeve and don't ask about it, you don't need to know_' look on her face…"

"Oh you know me so well," Rose drawled sarcastically. "You know Erin, I think we should maybe look into the lesbian thing, 'cause baby you and I could make a pair"

Two women in the car let out a hardly laugh, Johnny coughed as the color from his face drained, and Mark blushed. He looked to his right and stole a glance at his wife who was just simply sitting there, letting out a slight laugh –a giggle almost- and her cheeks were flushed crimson. "Don't worry Honey, I wouldn't leave you for that crazy bitch"

"Crazy? A bitch I'll give you," Rose smiled. "But crazy? No"

From the passenger seat, Johnny was rubbing the bridge of his nose. "What in the hell did I marry into?"

"A circus, kid you married into a circus" Rose replied with an overly sweet smile.**

* * *

****AN:/ Alrighty Y'all, here is the deal, I had intended to end this chapter directly when Jackie and Dallas meet Rose, Erin, Alyssa, Mark and Johnny, but unfortunately as I finished writing the last scene I was struck down with a serious case of writers block. So I'll be holding off all of that until the next chapter, and I'll be holding off that update until I get me muse back, have no idea when the hell that'll be, it could be tomorrow, it could be three weeks from now but you've gotten my point (I'm really worried if you haven't) **

**NOW HERE'S WHAT I'VE LAID OUT IN THE NEXT CHAPTER AS FAR AS MY 'SKELETON DRAFT' (AS I LIKE TO CALL IT) GOES, IT MIGHT CHANGE. **

**We'll check in with our favorite bad guy, the Dark Dragon, and watch as he uhh…how can I say this?… plays with Edward Keeler's head some more. The Dallas Grey Episode will come to a head and end with a bit of a surprise (and no I'm not saying if it's a good or bad surprise) I'll be taking it upon myself to describe to you and massive shot out with the US Government (Will they make it out?) (The surprise will be caused by it, S*IT, I think might have given it away if you have enough foresight) Jake will make a decision that'll impact both him and Rose (And will he regret it? And consider this as well, will Trixie have more of an influence on it?) and Rebecca Kay (The very friendly leader of the last hunters) will stumble upon a weapon that is now being looked for by the entire Dragon State, the American Dragon, The former Huntsboy and Huntsgirl, the woman who is perhaps the most powerful Hunter in the history of the Huntsclan, and he just as powerful daughter. Has she sealed her fate by even laying her eyes on it? Ask yourselves these questions, and be prepared for it all. **

**So? How did I do in my soap opera-ish cliffhanger? **

**Please leave a review for your author **


	28. Calamity Takes Affect

**Chapter 27 **

He didn't know why he was sobering up so fast, he had just downed a half a bottle of Vodka and he felt himself slowly coming out of his alcohol induced haze. Suddenly he realized something that he had almost totally forgotten, when he was sixteen, his Grandfather had told him that people embraced with Dragon Powers had faster bodily functions. And that was the best bet for why he was sobering up, and it just pissed him off to no end that it was happening, he wanted to stay numb. He didn't want his real emotions to come pouring out, because if they did, he would be on the floor bawling. It was only by the strength of the Vodka that he was able to mask his pain and sadness that he felt in his mind. But he knew that his sister realized that he was on the verge of crying, and why the hell should he have hid it? But he continued to nonetheless.

Without even thinking about it, he leaned back against the couch and shut his eyes, and he took deep breaths in and exhaled out of his nose and mouth. He knew that he was about to fall asleep, and he didn't really want to, but he found that he couldn't force himself out of the sleep. And before he knew it, he fell into a dream.

_This was the place that he had revisited in his nightmares for the past nineteen years, he didn't know why it bothered him to this day. It was night in Central Park, and before him stood a vision of himself and his wife when they were much younger, he looked at Rose's arms and found no baby, then he looked at his own and again found no baby, which was strange. Whenever he had nightmares about this, he or Rose would always have Alyssa in their arms. But she wasn't in this one, and that was peculiar. And then in a blink of an eye the vision of his younger self disappeared, that left the vision of his wife. "Why do you revisit this place? I find it curious that you still harbor nightmares even after nineteen years of being together with your wife, Jacob Long" _

_Jake's eyes bugged, what the hell was this. "It's strange I didn't know that I could have dreams were the people in it could interact with me, so what the hell are you doing in my head? And don't pull the cryptic bullshit on me, I'm not as stupid as I may seem"_

"_You're undoubtedly smart," The vision of his 'wife' smiled. "I'll answer all of your questions, and just for future reference, this isn't a dream, you're in a state between sleep and consciousness where I can contact you and tell you of what needs to be done in the coming battle against the evil known as Janus" _

_Narrowing his eyes, he watched as his 'wife' walked from where 'she' was at and began to saunter around him in a very un-rose like manner. "Who is Janus?" _

"_Oh, that's right I almost forgot," 'Rose' smiled. "In my time that was the name of the being that you know as the Dark Dragon, in the time of life he was the second most powerful being in the Dragon Empire, before he sought to overthrow me, before he succeeded, so Jacob? Does that answer your questions? Or do you have anymore?" _

_Jake's jaw tightened with annoyance. "Who in the hell are you and why are you in head? And why do you think that you know me? I have never heard about you before" _

"_I'm your very distant ancestor, in fact your family, your maternal family exclusively are my last living descendants," 'Rose' said. "In my time of life, I was known as his Imperial Majesty, Emperor Draco, ruler of all of the Earth, and I am your very, very distant grandfather, and I have come to help you defeat our family's enemy, do you want it?" _

_Jake would have blacked out if he wasn't already aware that he couldn't, but instead he began to choke of his own saliva. This wasn't possible? Was he getting contacted by a being that died over two thousand years ago? Being a part of the Magical Community, it really did seem possible. And of course he knew who this 'man' was, it was the last Emperor of the Dragon Empire before the fall of that said Empire, this was the man that imbued the Diamond of Draco with its abilities. "Thi-This isn't possible, I mean you don't know me even if I am related to you, and why are you doing this to me now?" _

"_Oh I know about you Young Dragon," Rose now revealed as the long dead Emperor Draco said. "I have watched you for your entire life, just as I watched your Grandfather his entire life, and there is a reason that I have not gone onto a more peaceful plain…" _

_Shutting his eyes, he crossed his arms over his chest and sighed. "What is it?" _

"_The fact that the prophecy that was created when the Diamond that bears my name was created, hasn't been fulfilled," The being said an irritated edge to the voice. "It's quite irritating, and the fact that I am bound to the Dark Dragon is even more irking" _

"_Wait a second? You're bound to him?" Jake asked skeptically_

"_I had to promise a few things to create the Diamond itself, I had to give my power over to it, I had to abandon my body," Draco's or rather Rose's eyes twinkled. "And I also had to give a reason to give the power to the Diamond, and that reason is why only the members of our family have been able to live to say that they fought him…" _

_Draco had taken his blank stare as a sign for him to continue. "…The promise that I made simply entails that the head of my family, at this time is you, is the only one with the power to kill Janus, you fought him when you were younger, and you did manage to squash him for a time, but he returned far more powerful than before…" _

"_And I know what you're thinking, that traitor…that Chang character did what she could to do bring him back," Draco continued with a gleaming smile. "The only reason that she was able to bring him back to life, was simply because you did it and Lao Shi being the current head of my family at the time didn't do it, you could not possibly have believed that the dark magic could contend with the powers of the Imperial Elders?" _

_That sort of made sense to him, but he still needed answers, "I-I-Imperial E-Elders?" _

"_The sort of Gods of the Empire in my time, I came to them the night that the Council and the sub-delegates voted to throw me down, I bound the elements of the Earth together and made my promise and demands to them," Draco said with a nonchalant shrug. "And the accepted, thus they took me from my body and did away with it, and they imbued my powers and the demands and promises into the stone, and sense then the stone has protected my bloodline and my species from the likes of the evil in the-" _

_Blinking once, he scowled. "So that's what's kept me alive all of these years?" _

"_Partly, besides your skill, smarts, strength, and your interesting partnership with your wife," He answered. "Once the Dark Dragon is dead, and you must kill him, only you no matter how you achieve that, then the prophecy will be fulfilled, and I will be able to go onto let's just say …the beyond… and the Diamonds power will be destroyed…" _

_He didn't understand a damn that that was being said here, he simply shook his head in agitation. "So when that happens, we are in danger of being discovered by the-" _

_Draco in the form of Rose held up a finger. "No, the Humans will never be able to even find that place, I made sure of that through some measures that I took when I ruled over the Dragon Empire, but that's another story for another day, my point is, I have come to tell you to not make the mistake that so many of our family made, you must kill him, you must deliver the death blow, and all will be set right in the world…" _

"_I-I don't know I-if I can, I mean-…" Jake stammered running his hand through his hair slowly_

_In the eyes of the form before him, Jake could see worry coming through them. "If you do not find a way to do it, then no one will, if he kills you than he will search the entire Earth to find all of our family members and kill them to eliminate the only threat to him, and make no mistake about this Jacob, if he succeeds, than the Dark Dragon will have ruling dominion over all life on this Earth onto the ending of the world, it is imperative that you have everything that makes you strong, including the thing that helps you in your strength, your wife, she will play a crucial role in this" _

"_What?" Jake asked in incredulity, he knew that she was important this, but not that important. _

"_Your current relationship status with her is troubling," The vision reflected quietly. "And when she asked you for a separation is unnerving, the more footsteps that she takes away from you are as if they are footsteps of doom themselves, do not regret her, she is your strongest ally and friend" _

_Jake knew that, and whatever this ghost was telling him was completely true, and then a thought popped into his head, one that he would have to think about sooner than late as Emperor Draco was now telling him. "I-I know, so yo-your saying that I should try to make it up to her?" _

"_That's exactly what I'm saying," Draco said leaning one finger forward and putting it on his chest, he poked it tight in his chest and smiled. "Do not fail Jacob, or both worlds will fall to him" _

And with that, a light overtook the scene and he found himself back in his living room with his sister looking curiously at him. Opening his eyes wider he found another person looking at him, further behind Haley, and he instantly felt his jaw drop in shock, surprise, happiness and another feeling.

…_Lust…_

"Trixie?" He said in something between a gasp and a whisper.

_**ISLE OF DRACO, DRAGON COUNCIL PALACE, THE CHAMBERS OF PRO TEMPORE EDWARD KEELER**_

He felt like his mind itself was being ripped in half as he sat at his desk with his head buried deep into his hands, he needed to make this feeling leave him. Edward needed to run the Government, and he couldn't do that with this strange creature invading his mind, and he had no doubt whatsoever that it had to be something or someone. Then it got a level where he was actively banging his head on the desk just to cover up the feeling, and then he began to breath in hushed whispers. "Make it stop…please…_please_…whatever your doing I'll give you whatever you want…just stop this,_ NOW_!"

"Oh?" The deep voice responded in his head, Edward looked up to find nothing.

And then the pain stopped, and he felt a wave of relief crash over him. "Do not mistake me for a fool Edward Keeler, I took the pain from you, and now you will fulfill your end of this shaky agreement, or shall I tear into your mind again?"

"No! NO! I'll do what you want, what do you want?" Keeler pleaded with large eyes.

Then the voice began to laugh. "You will have many uses Edward Keeler, and now finally, you and your Council are mine"

_**CapitalTown Motel, Just Outside of Washington D.C **_

"Do it now you little idiot!" Jackie hissed at the cowering man in the back of the Limousine.

They had driven from the fighting in Bethesda, and now they were at the place that Rose had told them to go too. In the back of the square shaped building, Jackie had parked the Limousine haphazardly, and now she was staring him down with her most intimidating glare that she was able to muster. Dallas sat in the back seat, with his arms wrapped around his knees in pure and utter panic. "Th-They tried to k-kill me, I could have died…I could have died…I could have died"

"Oh shut up you little Imbecile and go into lobby and get us a room before I skin you alive," She sneered at him. "And by the way, a few bullets and a broken window is nothing, were you even in the Huntsclan, you stupid pathetic excuse for a-"

Dallas looked over up at her. "FINE! I'll do it, but stop insulting me, we don't have as much courage as you do"

"Courage? It's not courage kid," Jackie answered with a now amused gleam in her eye. "It's dedication, now go!"

_**TEN MILES AWAY FROM THE CAPITALTOWN MOTEL, IN ROUTE TO CAPITAL TOWN MOTEL…**_

"Alright," Rose said absently as she looked up at the street names as she passed them. "Alyssa will be standing by in a car behind the motel, when the Government shows up and believe me when I tell you that they will show up, we will need to haul ass to that car and get out of there, if Dallas hasn't told us by then, then we bring him, if he has then he leave him at the mercy of the squad that the bring against us, Mark and Johnny you'll be standing watch inside or outside, I don't care"

She looked over to the passenger seat at Johnny. "I'll give you both a gun, you need to be prepared to do some of those acrobatic routines if need be, they will be strapped with the biggest guns that someone can carry, be prepared"

Johnny offered her a toothy smile. "Aren't I always, and by the way, how do you know about this place that they're at?"

"I used it once to interrogate a wizard that was posing as a Chief aide to a US Senator," Rose shrugged. "It was no big deal, I had to lure him to the hotel, and I posed as a very high priced hooker wore this snaky leather outfit and it worked like a charm, he may have had magic on his side, but he was a sucker for a treat like me in a short black leather outfit"

Her son in-law snorted, Erin laughed and again Mark just blushed, Erin was the first to comment. "Oh I think I remember that, weren't you only sixteen when you did that? I would have been disturbed out of my mind if I had to play dominatrix to some bastard"

"Shit," Rose cursed with a laugh. "I had almost forgotten about that detail"

Johnny's eyes widened with thought. "Gee, I have to wonder what that'd be like"

"You do remember that you married my daughter?" Rose asked, eyebrows raised.

The younger Hunter nodded slowly with a sheepish smile. "Of course I do, I love Alyssa Mrs. Long, but I'm a guy, I can't help but picture that, I mean look at you your just-"

"Uh, Johnny? Shut up before you say something that you'll regret," Rose said, her face was surprisingly flushed. "But to be honest with you, I'm very flattered by that…"

Erin from the back seat, took it upon herself to clear her throat loudly and rudely as to capture all of the attention in the car. She couldn't believe her eyes and ears, but did she just watch her son flirt with her best friend? This was unbelievable. A swelling of that motherly protectiveness swelled inside of her gut, but she soon ignored it and it quelled down to nothing at all. Had this always been here? In the short time that she had been back around the both of them she hadn't seen anything, but now she was and she indeed saw something there between them that was either a mother and son type relation or a flirting mother in-law and son in-law. And she didn't know which one scared her the most. "So, Johnny, how did you get to know Rose here?"

She couldn't help it and if Rose caught onto what she was trying to do, she didn't care, she needed to find out a few things for herself. "Well besides my father cursing her name every day of my life, I've known her from the archive records and I've grown to know her as my girlfriend's mother and recently as my mother in-law…"

"Is that it?" She asked conspiratorially.

Narrowing her eyes, Rose tried her best to keep the look on her face from all view, it was the look of thought and disgust. "Erin what exactly are you getting at?"

_**ABANDONED HUNTSLAIR FACILITY, MANHATTAN NEW YORK**_

This was a section of the base that Rebecca had never been in before, it was deep under the main level and it had take a lot of effort just to get down here. She had been hunting the query that she had set lose and unwittingly it had gone down here, and now she had forgotten all about the rat. This level, it was a series of one giant circular door after another, it was a massive room, and she found it familiar for some reason, and then she recognized it as the vault level that all of the Huntslair's had. She had been to the largest one, the one at the Academy in upstate New York, and this one had a very similar layout. And she found herself walking to stare at all of the doors.

Erin noticed the locking mechanisms on the front of the doors, a keypad, a voice recognition outlet, and thumbprint analysis devices among others. Focusing on one of the vaults, she noticed that all of them had the same devices built into the formidable vault entrance. She knew from her lessons the stone door was at least two feet thick and graded with every tough metal and stone imaginable, it was said that not even Dragon's fire could break through these. She had to wonder what these things contained, weapons or money? The ability to bring the Huntsclan back into power? She had to let her imagination run away with her. Looking at the tops of the Vaults, she saw numbers, and then she spied the number of a vault 639, and her breath hitched.

That was her lucky number, and she had to wonder what was in it, curiosity got her.

She had to know…

**THE LONG FAMILY APARTMENT, MANHATTAN NEW YORK **

This was not a good feeling whatsoever, and Jake had to be honest with himself Trixie had developed into a very beautiful woman. She looked as if she had crawled out of bed, but still it was just the way that she carried herself that made him choke on his own breath. After a few minutes of him staring at her intently, she finally had worked up courage to sort of saunter towards him and take a place next to him on the couch.

"Hey, how are you?" Trixie asked with genuine concern.

Jake still couldn't find his tongue, or ability to talk. "I-I-I gotta' admit, a little stunned"

"And why is that, is it because I came here at this ungodly hour when a friend needed me?" Trixie asked rubbing her eyes sleepily and looking back up at him with a smile.

Shaking his head, he looked over at her and he couldn't help but immediately going the sight that caught his eyes first, her lips. "I suppose, I really want to thank you for coming and helping me, I am a little drunk but I should be sober completely shortly"

"That is no problem Honey," Trixie answered a bring smile. "So talk to me, I'm here"

"Well, as I'm sure Haley told you, I'm having problems with Rose, and now she told me that she wants a divorce," Jake said. "I just need a little perspective from a woman"

Trixie's eyebrows rose. "You didn't expect problems when you got together with her?"

"Oh of course I did, but I thought that I could work through them" Jake responded.

"Well what did you say to her that could piss her off so bad that she could leave you, the last I heard, she was drop dead, head over heels, in love with you and she'd move Heaven and Earth just to be with you" Trixie stated with a wry grin.

Jake shook his head. "I-I told her that I regretted ever meeting her"

Inwardly Jake cringed at the sound of a deep intake of breath by Trixie, and then he looked over to her who was looking at him with a sympatric smile. "Jake baby, you've got a lot of groveling to do, and I have a feeling that will be a lot with someone like her, she's going to make your life hell before she even forgives you…"

"…how would you know?" Jake asked wincing slightly.

Trixie shrugged. "Because I'm a woman, I know these things"**

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****AN:/ Well here is what I was able to force out, and I've gotten my thoughts back on track, YAY! The next chapter will get really dramatic, and yes, Trixie's will continue to the next chapter until her uses run out. And if anyone didn't understand the whole 'Dream' thing at the beginning with Emperor Draco, PM me and I'll explain it clearer for you. I just wanted to let you all now that I've successfully mapped out this entire plot and no part of the time line of this story is completely in the Dark. I now know where everything is going and I am insanely proud of myself for that. I've also decided that they're going to be about 35 to 40 chapters. So anyway, leave a review and tell me what you think of this newest update! **


	29. Desperate Times and Desperate Measures

**Chapter 28**

She steadied her breath and she instantly calmed herself for what was about to happen in this motel, she was going to have to do anything to get the information out of Dallas. And when she said anything, she literally meant everything. Slamming the car door behind her, she looked over to Erin and Johnny who were repeating the same action. "Erin come with me into the hotel room, Johnny keep watch outside the hotel room, Mark go across the street to the pizza place over there, Alyssa's in a car in the parking lot, that's our line of a quick escape and I'm going to need all lines of escape available to us if this is going to work properly, understand that if they aren't we are going to die"

Erin took a glance at Johnny and Mark. "Whatever happens, you need to listen to me, Mom and Rose, because we know how to do this very well"

"Alright" Mark nodded with a slight smile to his wife.

Johnny's eyebrows rose in admonishment. "Hey! I can do this too!"

"Yes," Rose started sticking her tongue out at her son in-law. "But face it honey, me, your Mom and Grandma do this hundreds of times better…"

"I know that, but I'd like a little recognition" Johnny whined petulantly looking at his mother. "Mommy, make her recognize me"

Erin smiled and winked at her son. "Rose, you bitch don't ignore my son or I'll plant my foot up your backend"

"Hey," The former Huntsgirl raised her hands in a gesture of surrender. "There's no need for descriptive violence"

**Manhattan New York, at the Long Family Apartment**

"So Jake," Trixie mused slyly as she looked at the numerous pictures that adorned the wall. "You have a Mrs. Long and five little Long's? I thought I'd never see the day when you settled down to raise a family of your own"

Jake raised an eyebrow. "You though that I'd never have a wife or kids of my own?"

"Nope, but you surprised me" She responded with a saucy wink that made Jake blush with embarrassment.

These feelings were something that he shouldn't have been feeling, he listened to what Draco had said in his dream, he said that if he and Rose split up than the odds of one of them being killed would rise and the odds of the world being conquered by the Dark Dragon would rise. "I'm surprised that you actually decided to come here right now, it is four in the morning, you should sleep"

"What can I say? You're a friend, and when a friend needs me, I'll come running, even if we have seen each other in over ten years," Trixie said with a slightly lazy shrug. "Haley told me that you wanted to talk about your marriage to Rose, she also told me that you downed a half a bottle of Patron, not healthy"

Trixie's eyes narrowed when they landed on the wedding photo of Jake and Rose, and then a very nasty scowl came across her lips. How dare that stuck up bitch hurt Jake like this? She knew Jake and even though that had grown up in then ten years since they had last seen each other, she knew that he was one of the most kind people that she had met and he would never lie to someone unless it was meant to protect him. When Haley had told her that Rose wanted to leave him over a little lie, that pissed her off, that made her blood boil and she wanted to do nothing more than to slap the piss out of Rose. And if she had it her way, she would get that chance and even though the odds were out of her favor when it came to a fight with that staff welding, crazy psychotic bitch, she would still relish the feeling of getting a kick, punch or slap in on her face. The thought of that made a large smile come across her face.

"Yea…I don't know what I'm going to do" Jake said with a heavy sigh, running his hand through his hair.

Trixie turned and shot Jake and sympathetic smile at him. "Women, w-we want to feel happy, we want to feel like we can trust the person that we're with and we feel that like that person should never lie, no matter how small it is"

"It wasn't even a bad lie, if anything it was a pointless thing to lie about," Jake admitting quietly. "It didn't affect the way our lives, and when it's finally comes out, she acts like I murdered her father or something like that"

With a laugh, the woman smiled. "That's what all lies feel like to us, we feel like every lie, no matter how big or small they are,, are just horrible, have you tried groveling?"

Jake shook his head. "She never gave me the chance too, but as soon as we can have a few moments alone, I plan on being her slave until she wants to even attempt and work this marriage out"

"I've never heard you talk like that," Trixie reflected. "You shouldn't feel sorry for what you did Jake, while I don't like to be lied to by the people that I'm involved with, that lie was harmless and in fact it would have be touching that you did"

He took in her words, they were like poison and he was gladly taking it, they were making only two thoughts go off in his mind. They made him think that he wanted her, Trixie and not his wife. But there was the other thought that was acting as a counterbalance, his wife, he had been madly, crazily and deeply in love with her for twenty three years and he couldn't imagine life without her, he had lived life without her for fifteen years and it was hell on his mind and feelings, and he didn't want to go through that again. In one simple explanation, he was torn, and he didn't know what in the hell he was going to do. Here was this beautiful woman who was standing in his apartment telling him that he shouldn't heel to Rose's demands. But he had an equally –if not more- beautiful woman, to whom he was married and shared his life with, and he didn't want to be apart from this woman, so he knew right there while staring into Trixie's back that he was going to everything until he made everything right between them.

"Jake?" Trixie asked curiously.

Jake looked up at her and flashed his amused smile at her. "Thank you Trixie for making me realize what I have to do"

"I didn't say anything that important," She shrugged. "At least I think I didn't"

**Outside of Washington D.C, Capital Town Motel, Room 294 **

She was amused to be certain when she walked up the stairs with Erin flanking her, this was going to be fun no matter how much she was pushing to the line of going into a full scale fight with the US Government. The consequences of what would happen if she didn't get the information from the man in time didn't scare her at all, she had Erin, Jackie and Alyssa with her, they would win in any fight against a bunch of large men with even larger guns. Stopping in front of Room 294, she looked over to Erin who made a gesture with her hands.

"After you _Huntsgirl_" Erin drawled with an amused look on her face.

Rose sneered sarcastically at the woman and knocked on the door that she noticed was looking faded from the days that she had last been here. It looked as if it hadn't been painted since it had been built in the early seventies, hell the entire building, looked as if it hadn't been updated since it was built. That made her reaffirm her faith in choosing this place to conduct the 'extraction' no one would bother then and the people that were actually staying here she assumed would never call the police on them. It wasn't long before the door to the room opened, and Erin and she were met with the beaming but still exasperated face of Jackie Hutchinson. "I was wondering when you would arrive, I was actually beginning to think that you blew me off with him…"

"We'd never to that to you Mama," Erin said taking a quick look over her mother's shoulder to see the bound and gagged form of Dallas Grey staring up at them from a chair in the middle of the room. "I see you brought the guest of honor, you wouldn't mind if we asked you to help us with all of this?"

Jackie nodded. "The brave little prick's been getting on my nerves all night…"

"_Brave_," Rose scoffed as Jackie moved aside to reveal themselves completely to the captive, she immediately felt Dallas's eyes drift over her. "Hello there Dallas, it's been a long time, so I'll cut the crap and get straight to my point"

When Erin walked into the room, Jackie quickly took a look around outside and shut the door loudly. In her mind, she hoped that god would have mercy on his soul, because he was now in a room with the three people who wouldn't.

She watched as the Huntsgirl walked forward and gripped the arms of the chair that she had bound Dallas too. The young woman leaned forward and blew in the man's ear. "We'll start things out the easy way, the way that you don't lose all of your fingers, if you tell me where we need to find the Dragon Nerve Gas, exactly where I need too, there'll be a lot in it for you, positively anyway…"

Purposefully, she leaned forward and pressed her breasts tightly against his chest, she smirked to herself as she saw his eyes bug out of his head. "Or, there is always option number two, I could rip your balls off painfully with a pair of very large and very sharp pliers that I brought, but it's your decision, so…?"

Rose reached up and pushed the piece of cloth that was covering his mouth, she stifled a laugh when she heard him literally babbling to himself. "S-Say more stuff like that, and not the second thing, the first thing…"

'_Be sultry, play to his weakness, don't blow his head off' _Rose kept repeating that in her head as if it were a mantra as she turned and motioned Erin over. The two of them crouched down on their legs to stare up at Dallas, and don't be mistaken, they knew what they had planned to do when Rose had told her of Dallas's certain faults towards them. Rose winked at Erin who smiled seductively, and turned back to Dallas with a pouty look. "Look Dallas baby, we're in a bit of a jam, and I know how you always eh…shall we say thought about us when you were uhm…'_Tugging the rope' _when you were younger, so let's just say that if you help us and tell us where it is, then we'll show you what it really looks like"

Rose brought her hand up and audibly giggled into her palm upon hearing the strange euphemism for Masturbation that Erin had used. She quickly regained her composure and looked back up at Dallas. Bringing her hand up, she ran her hand through his hair, fighting back the urge to vomit. "If you tell us where we can get a hold of the blueprints and the one device we made, then Erin and I will kiss and grope each other for five minutes, topless, and you can take pictures"

She laughed at his shocked expression. "What? It's not like we're guys, and it's not like I or she are planning on running for President, so what do you say?"

* * *

**AN:/ Referring to what Rose and Erin promised Dallas, yes it will happen, and I'll write maybe a little bit of it. But I'm not going to go as far as to go through the entire thing and go that graphic about it ;) anyway …I've decided to make a change to something that I said earlier pertaining to Trixie. I've decided to let her have a larger role in the end of this story. Up until this point, I hadn't figured out how I'm going to push Rose and Jake back together, but that was before Trixie came along. She'll be Rose's motivation to put aside this petty bull crap and it will be in the only way she knows how possible. Care to take a guess?**

**Leave a review for your humble author! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE DO IT!**


	30. When We Lose Ourselves

**Chapter 29 **

**All Good Things**

**Isle of Draco, Underground Security Bunker, Diamond of Draco wing**

The order to evacuate the chamber might have raised some eyebrows from the other Dragon Councilors, but the voice in his head was prompting him to do it and he didn't want that pain to continue. He had given the order for all of the guards to leave the chamber and security measures within the chamber to be deactivated so that he could be alone in the chamber held the Diamond of Draco and as he now stood in the chamber alone he began to stare within the depths of the perfectly formed rock. Then he felt that presence return to the back of his mind, it felt almost good for that presence to fill the space that it had left but then again it felt like a horrible violation.

"Very good Edward," The voice chuckled. "I have not been in the presence of this stone since I first laid eyes on it, because you see the Diamond and the power it holds is something of like poison to me, I can however as I have discovered be around it in the bodies of people that I control, now listen to my instructions carefully, I want you to walk over to the stone and touch it"

Edward walked over to the center of the chamber and touched the stand that the massive stone sat on, and he instantly felt his hand burn. The voice in his head seemed to laugh. "Do not worry, the only reason that your hand seems to burn is because I am in your mind, it will pass shortly…"

"What do you plan on doing?" Edward practically hissed.

Another malevolent laugh came from the back of his mind. "Through you I can corrupt the power of the Diamond with my own, this item has been the bane of my existence for two thousand years, and I will make it bend to me"

"What! You cannot do that, w-we'd lose our ability to change!" He yelled.

"_I_ will not," The voice replied. "At least for a time, you see this Diamond contains the power of Ancient Dragon Imperial Family they were the beginnings of our race and if their power is corrupted and bended to my own, I can control it for a time, but when the times runs out I'll will be just like you, the power of the Imperial Elders and their descendants is powerful"

Edward shook his head in rage, and then he screamed out loud. "Now I realize what you're trying to do! You're trying to weaken us, so that you can take over Dark Dragon! I've been a fool, I should have just killed myself"

"Now that would be the honorable thing to do Pro Tempore, I must say yours has been the easiest that I've broken in quite some time," The Dark Dragon observed. "I should tell you that to be a Pro Tempore of the Dragon Council you need to have the mental and physical fortitude, neither of which you seem to have and I should know what it takes, I was the very first one…"

The Pro Tempore choked on his own saliva. "S-So, Lao Shi was right, your-"

"The old man was correct, I was Janus," The Dark Dragon repeated. "It's a shame, he was the only one that was able to put the pieces together, and apparently he had passed that correct notion to you, I enjoy you Keeler"

Keeler bared his teeth. "You'll never going to get away with this, I've made certain steps to make sure that you'll be put in the ground were you belong"

"Oh foolish child," The Dark Dragon laughed. "With the Diamond under my control, no one can stop me, not Dragon Council, not the Huntsclan and certainly not the Long Family, I have read your mind, I know what they're attempting to do and they will fail I know this, I have foreseen it"

With a great inhale of breath, he closed his eyes. "It was a gamble to hide it"

"A gamble you lost, and now with your help Edward Keeler, and make no mistake that if you hadn't helped me I wouldn't have been able to get this far, I will rule this Earth," He said with a slight chuckle. "This Diamond is mine now, you are mine now and this world is mine now, and it will be that way forever"

Inwardly, and Keeler knew that Dark Dragon could hear this, he was screaming in fear, anger and pure guilt.

**The Huntslair Complex, Manhattan New York, Vault Level, Inside Vault 639 **

To describe what she found inside the vault, it was simply _amazing_.

The interior of the Vault was like that of the ones she had seen before, but what it was filled with had taken her breath away. In the center of the vault was a long glass shaft, and inside it was a device that looked similar to a mine. She was amazed to find that it was still suspended in a vacuum, but when she found the generator that fed power to the vault, she remembered that these Vaults were designed to run for five years straight without repair. And according to the internal logs, the last time that the Generator had been repair was precisely three years ago, four days before Huntsman Sindacco was killed to be exact.

On the floor beneath the shaft, was a smaller safe and she could only let her imagination run wild with that.

Now if she could only find out how to open the safe itself to find out exactly what this device was.

**AN:/ This was just a small filler to progress the (for now) minor stories along, I felt that I needed to devote a chapter to them to push them along to the crescendo. Because they'll both play an important role towards the end, and yes, if you're confused of what the Dark Dragon did in the first section, he corrupted the power of the Diamond of Draco which controls Dragon Powers. He will strip the rest of the Dragons of their power (For a time don't worry, they'll get it back at some point)**

**Anyway, REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW. **


	31. When All Good Things

**Chapter 31 **

**When all good things…**

Dallas was actually breaking out into a sweat as he watched the two incredibly attractive women look at him, he knew that his old 'dreams' where being played upon, but he really didn't care that much to even think about it. He looked over at Rose's blue eyes and then in a blink of an eye, he looked over at Erin's green depths. Then he looked up and stared at the menacing and somewhat shocked gaze of Jackie who was now staring at the women in front of him with a shocked glare. Raising a single eyebrow Rose knew exactly what was going through his head, and she had to handle it quickly.

"Jackie," Rose spoke not taking her eyes off of Dallas. "I think you need to leave the room now, unless you want to see me make out with your daughter, why don't you go outside and talk with Johnny"

The Huntress's eyes bugged out of her head. "Rose I don't think that this necessary"

"Mother, you haven't really had a chance to talk with Johnny alone," Erin interjected mirroring the actions of Rose, not taking her eyes off of Dallas either. "We'll be along very shortly…"

It took them a few moments before they heard her footsteps and then the door opening and closing behind them, then as if they had practiced this little 'show' they wore prefect seductive smiles on their faces. "So, this is how this is going to work darlin' you'll tell us where we can find what we need and we'll …do our thing if you get my drift? So, where did the Huntsman put our little nerve gas mine?"

"Y-Y-You two are evil," Dallas choked out wanting to run his hand through his hair but he stopped when he remembered that it was bound. "You think that I'm just going to spit it out-"

His pathetic attempt at a stand against the allure of the two women was cut off when he felt the rope that bound his hand to the chair cut off. And then his breath hitched in his throat when he felt Rose's hand clasp his wrist gently and bring it up to rub on her chest. With that his eyes rolled into the back of his head, and Rose chuckled while winking over at Erin. "That works on Jake all of that damn time"

"Mark too." Erin stuck her tongue out playfully over at Rose.

And what Rose did next took Dallas and even Erin off guard, when the former Huntsgirl's hand darted over to Erin's jaw and pulled her into a small kiss. She smirked in the embrace of their lips when she heard Dallas, literally, choke on his one inhalation of breath. Pulling Erin away, she winked at her friend and turned back to Dallas. "If you want to see more of that, than I'd get to spitting it out"

"N-No I-won't!" Dallas refused shaking his head from side to side in an attempt at trying to rid the image that was now seared into his mind, it was useless but maybe he could hold on for a little while.

Rose looked back at Erin. "Could you go out to the car and get me my pliers, I have a little surgery that I have to do on Dallas here, he's apparently chose option number two instead of one…"

"O-Ok I'll tell you, just keep doing more of that!" Dallas shouted fervently.

The older of the two women nodded and smirked to herself in a self satisfied manner, she trailed her hand up teasingly over his thigh, reminding herself to hold the urge to vomit. Like hell she was going to go that far, if she was going to be doing that anytime soon, it was going to be with her Husband Jake Long and not this perverted idiot Dallas Grey. "I'm glad we can come to an understanding…"

"Alright! You remember that vault under level of the Huntslair in Manhattan?" He asked breathlessly.

Rose and Erin nodded, Erin looked up at Dallas with sly smile. "And let me guess, it's there?"

"Yes! The Prototype, The Blue Prints, even the one unit that was designed, it's all there and you'll be able to find it in Vault 639," Dallas practically screamed out. "Entrance code, 956-Delta-2"

"Thanks Honey." Rose winked and then she turned to Erin and gave her a knowing grin.

And as they both began to lift their shirts above their heads, Dallas melted in his chair at the sight of it.

* * *

"Aren't you supposed to be in there?" Johnny asked his Grandmother with a curious glance.

Jackie nodded her head, it was oblivious that she was severely irritated and by the looks of the color on her cheeks, rather embarrassed. Walking up to grasp the rail of the bar that her Grandson was leaning on, she looked over to him and offered a shrug and a shy smile. "I was, but your mother and Rose seemed to use another form a persuasion and I don't think any of us should be in there to see it"

"Bloodcurdling?" Johnny suggested raising his eyebrows.

She laughed and the irony didn't escape her. "You could say that, but I'm actually kind of glad that they kicked me out, it kind of gives us a chance to talk alone and I've been meaning to do that for awhile"

"Oh?" He asked with a slight twinkle of amusement and happiness in his eyes.

Nodding her head, she offered a smile to her Grandson. "I never thought that I'd be able to have a Grandchild that knows that it means to share in the tradition of my family, your mother's family I mean"

"I always through that Erin's other children would live lives as stupid, small minded mortals," Jackie remarked looking up to the sky and joining Johnny in staring at the moon. "I never thought that I'd be able to have a Grandchild that I could share a past with, for the most part anyway, but I hope you won't be to offended when I tell you that I wanted to give your father a Columbian necktie with my bare hands"

Johnny chuckled deeply, that was something that he was sure that no other Grandchild expect him could expect to hear from their grandparents, well maybe his own children would hear that from their grandmothers. "Wow, your reputation precedes you, isn't that where you cut someone's throat and tie the-?"

"Yes," Jackie held up a hand for him to stop. "But you cannot deny that that son of a bitch didn't deserve it"

"You have me there, and whenever you want to berate my dead father don't worry, you won't find any sympathy for him," Johnny explained looking out over the parking lot and across the street to where he could see his wife's car sitting in the parking lot of the pizza place. "He was going to kill my girlfriend who was pregnant at the time, and that was just enough for me, I shot that stupid prick in the head and I loved every second of it…"

Jackie smiled and laughed under her breath. "I might have known you for only a few hours, but I can tell that you are going to be my favorite grandkid, not that I don't love your brother and sister, but you're my favorite"

The boy felt a warm feeling at the bottom of his stomach, he hadn't felt this feeling before, his mother was the only person to tell him that and that was only a few hours ago. His father had felt that showing emotions such as love and adoration where a weakness. "Thank you, you don't know how much that means to me…"

Leaning over, she placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. "You're my grandkid, why wouldn't I?"**

* * *

****Across the Street, In the vehicle Alyssa Long-Sindacco**

"So," Mark said looking over at the motel. "You all live in a world of dragons and knights?"

Alyssa smirked at the man's ignorance of her world, because she was a part of the magical world, not medieval times. Now that she thought about it, a few hundred years ago her ancestors dealt with knights but none actually lived in her world. "Uh…that's not true, a few hundred years ago maybe but not nowadays, if you talking about knight-like people in our world, your married to one of them…"

"Erin? A knight?" Mark laughed and he eyed his daughter in-law in amusement.

She shrugged. "They're not exactly knights, but they have the same purpose, they've spent two thousand years trying to wipe everything that wasn't a human off of the earth, but those stupid bastards got what they deserved, we moved heaven and earth to wipe _them_ out of existence, we showed leniency to only two people at first my mother and Johnny, and the tonight, two more, Erin and Jackie, that's a record for us"

"So they're like the last of the Huntsclan…?" Mark asked rising his eyebrows.

"Yes," Alyssa nodded. "And frankly, my mom, Erin and Jackie are probably the toughest bitches on earth"

The laughter that they shared soon died, as Alyssa saw a conspicuous van drive down the t intersection that divided the street up, her eyes narrowed with suspicion when the two doors in the back of the van opened and someone stepped out. And her breath hitched in her throat when the man that stepped out of the van had the definite look of a commando, and her eyes bugged out of her head when she saw the man pull a large rifle out of the back. "Son of a bitch," She cursed and leaned up to the dashboard to grasp the large gun that she had. "Send a text message to my mother, we've been discovered-"

But she didn't get to finish her thought as a gun shot rang out at the upper floor of the motel.**

* * *

****Inside the motel room…**

"Men are so stupid," Erin laughed as she slipped her shirt back on. "Look at him, he's out like a light"

Rose smirked at the now unconscious Dallas Grey, who had apparently passed out from the lack of blood in his head, she was sure of that because it was oblivious that his pants had eh …shrunk up to his ankles. She looked over at Erin who was now tying her hair back into a tight bun. She was about to do the same thing when a gunshot sounded off outside of the room and a yell of pain. "Oh my god," Erin breathed before running towards the door, it was the fastest that she had ever run in her entire life.

Following closely behind her, Rose nearly collapsed at the sight in front of her, the sight of her son in-law lying bleeding in Jackie's arms. What happened next was almost too much for her as she heard shots being exchanged from across the street, and her eyes widened. "Alyssa," was all she said before leaped down from the second floor with all of the dexterity that she could muster. She was not going to let this happen to the both of them, no one would be dying tonight, not Johnny, not Alyssa, only the people who had done this would die. She swore to that, and she didn't easily break her swears to herself.

And with all of the powers that had at her disposal, she intended on making sure that these bastards died.**

* * *

****AN:/ OHHHH, these Government people are going to get it, and don't worry about Alyssa or Johnny for that matter, you'll see why in the next chapter. And I'm sorry that I ignored Jake, Trixie and Haley, I wanted to move this along. Sooooo, please leave a review for me, I really love to read them :)**


	32. Come To An End

**AN:/ This is mainly a flashback chapter, dealing with a lot of things that happened with Jake and Rose in my universe anyway. Sure it breaks the story arch that I was trying to develop with the whole Erin/Rose/Jackie/Alyssa/Johnny/Jackie/Mark/Dallas situation, but I needed to get this out of the way first and it will be the catalyst for Jake's big decision. So enjoy the fluffy moments between Jake and Rose. Oh and for those of you that were really waiting for Rose and Jake to make up with each other, don't kill me for what happens at the end of this chapter, THIS WILL NOT BECOME A JAKE AND TRIXIE STORY! (Although I might play around with them to build up the dramatic tension) I will always be a Rose and Jake fanatic. **

**Chapter 32 **

…**Come to an end **_**

* * *

**__**Three and a half years before, Downtown Manhattan New York Top of the Empire State Building. **_

"_Jake what in the hell are you doing?" Rose growled in irritation, the angering feeling was caused by the fact that she was blindfolded and flown to some place unknown by her dragon boyfriend who was practically her husband. _

_He didn't say anything and Rose could practically feel the smirk he was wearing burning into the back of her head, that caused her to clench her fists tightly. And then she felt him step behind her and gently pull the blind off of her face and then her breath was taken from her, the sight was beautiful. The sight of the sun setting over the horizon, especially from on top of the Empire State Building was stunning to her, she wondered why the hell she hadn't seen it before in all of the times she had been up here in her life. "J-Jake, this is lovely," Rose smiled feeling her irritation fly away. "But why did you have to blindfold me?" _

"_I just wanted it to be a surprise," He smiled winking at her mischievously. "Did I surprise you?" _

_Rose nodded and her lips curved into a smile. "Yes you did, but I have to ask why did you bring me up here?" _

_Her eyes skirted to his pants, and then her breath was caught in her throat when she him pull a small black box out of his pocket. "I think you know what question I'm about to ask you Huntsgirl, so what do you think you say? Are you ready for this particular assignment; it's a tough one…" _

"_I-I-I'm not afraid of much," Rose stuttered with a graceful smile. "And I think that I'll enjoy this assignment that I'll be going on" _

_Jake's eyes narrowed in amusement and his grin turned into a bright smile. "So what do you say? Yes?" _

"_Ehh…sure," Rose mocked with a shrug and a smile. "I'd be more than honored to be your wife" _

_Jake laughed and reached forward to pull her tight against him, than he sealed the agreement with a searing kiss. "I'm going to love being your husband"__**

* * *

**__**Two Years Before, Downtown Manhattan New York, Vertain Restaurant**_

_She amazed with herself that she was able to still turn heads like she could, but that sense of amazement turned more into annoyance as she strolled into the Vertain Restaurant. This wasn't her type of dress, it was an elegant but still sensual black turtle-neck dress that accentuated her every curve, to top that little number she wore a pair of very alluring stiletto heels that made every male's head in the restaurant turn towards her. And if she was trying to get the attention off of herself than she was failing miserably because the icing on the cake was the fact that she was wearing her hair down in a waterfall of dirty blonde locks. It was one of those many times that she truly felt irresistible to everything in the room, and she was relishing every second off it. "Rose, e-eh wow, you look…" _

"_Drop dead gorgeous? Thank you Honey, you don't look to bad yourself," Rose supplied with a teasing smirk. "It is a special day after all…" _

_Jake smiled as he pulled Rose's chair out for her, when she seated herself Jake chanced a leer at her legs and when he noticed that she saw him doing this, he hung his tongue out of his mouth and began to pant. "Damn baby, have I reminded you that you've got a great pair of legs that go up and make one fine ass out of themselves, I mean it just reminds me that the hottest woman on the earth is my wife" _

"_Not in the world Jake," Rose winked taking a sip of water that was already at their table. "Just in the tri-state area and you're talking about woman who just had a baby a few weeks ago, I'm looking finger lickin' good" _

"_Mmmm…what?" Jake said quickly brining his face up to meet hers with a slightly glazed over expression. _

_She rolled her eyes and snapped her fingers, men, they were all the same. But when this man stared at her chest, it amused her, it did not in the least offend her like it would with others. "Uhh…Jake, you were staring about eight inches south of my face, god the first night that we don't have the baby and you just want to jump on me, I think just because of that, the amusement park is closed for tonight to punish you…" _

"_You can't blame for staring, and besides every other man in this restaurant is staring at you," Jake replied with a quick glance and growl around. "Which if they do anything, I'll dump their corpse in the Hudson…" _

_Rose giggled, before taking a look around the room and winking. "Don't worry baby, I won't stray, and if it helps tonight I'm uh…shall we say…going commando…all for you" _

_His mouth literally opened two inches and gaped at her, when he finally regained his sense of thought. "So…the amusement park is back open, just for me?" _

"_Just for you Dragon Boy," Rose nodded with a grin. "And this amusement ride comes with a free braless woman, foreplay and underwear sold separately, we are running a special on hours of endless sex tonight, there is a discount on willingness from braless woman because tonight her offspring is taking care of her newest offspring, and tonight is a night for celebrating the fall Huntsclan, the braless woman is up for anything" _

_Jake laughed throatily and took a sip of his water. "Well then, let us eat dinner, then go home and start working on baby number three?" _

"_Not so fast," Rose said with a bit on an icy glare. "Before I got here I took the liberty of buying some condoms, I will be damned if I spit out another baby for you anytime soon" __**

* * *

**__**Eight Months Before, Mount Sinai Hospital, Delivery Room. **_

"_How are you feeling mom?" Alyssa asked as she walked into the private birthing room that her mother and father and occupied for the past hour and a half. _

_When she had gotten the call that her mother was going to give birth to her twin brothers, she immediately dropped everything and wrangled Johnny and her children into the car to haul ass to Mount Sinai to be there for her parents. She was surprised to find that her younger brother and sister, DJ and Rachel were fast asleep, she knew that if she were their age and she if were in a room with a woman who was carrying about eighteen pounds of baby and contracting, then she would be off of the walls with excitement and knowing how her mother was like in these events probably fear. Quickly taking her mother's hand into hers she almost screamed in pain when the older woman grasped it so hard that she almost broke it. What a rough time to hold someone's hand, during a contraction. "WELL YOU KNOW THAT FEELING WHEN YOUR ABOUT TO BLOW A NINE POUND DOG AND A NINE POUND POTROAST OUT OF YOUR ASS?" _

_Alyssa raised both of her eyebrows at her mother's interesting use of expletives and metaphors, then she looked over at her father who merely smiled affectionately at his wife. "And soon someone will call you mommy" _

"_YOU, HAVEN'T YOU DONE ENOUGH? I MEAN I COULD HANDLE ONE AT A TIME, BUT YOU HAD TO GO AND MIX IT UP, NOW I'LL HAVE TWO SLIPPING OUT OF THERE, GOD KNOWS IT'S BEEN HOLLOWED OUT BY THE OTHER THREE," Rose screamed at him, murder radiating from her eyes. "UHHH…GET THEM OUT OF ME! I WANT TO GET BACK TO DRINKING! GOD I MISS MY BOOZE, WHERE IS THAT GODDAMN DOCTOR!" _

_Almost as if on cue, a thin woman with graying red hair opened the door into the delivery room, she was obviously a doctor from the stethoscope and white lab coat that she wore. Shutting the door behind her, she peered down at the clipboard. "Mrs. Long, you are rapidly approaching Ten centimeters, I would say maybe about thirty and then you'll be ready to give birth, how are you feeling?" _

"_Eh," Rose feigned a nonchalant shrug. "…A tad uncomfortable…" _

_Jake looked at her with an amused look. "What? You feel like shit" _

"_SHE HAS THE DRUGS!" Rose snapped back at him, apparently the beast from hell only rose around people that she was related or involved with. _**

* * *

****Current Day, at The Long Family Apartment, Manhattan New York**

Jake didn't know why he had been remembering all of those things, he hadn't even wanted to remember those things because the thought of him not having any more of those moments with Rose was just all too depressing and it made him want to dive back into the Vodka. He had been so caught up in them that he had forgotten of the woman that was simply staring at him from across the living room. As soon as his mind had caught up with his surroundings, he blinked his eyes and looked over at Trixie who was wearing an amused smile and as she realized that he had regained his thoughts. "Cat got your tongue?"

"You could say that," Jake shrugged. "Sorry I seem to be drifting off, I think might be a little drunk still"

Trixie laughed and looked down at the soft white carpet awkwardly. "Well it's just us, Haley got tired of just staring at you, and she went and laid down in your bed"

"That's fine, Rose gave her quite a beating earlier and I'm surprised that she didn't do it sooner." Jake smiled and ran his hand through his hair.

Getting up from the armchair that she was sitting in, she lightly sauntered over to sit next to Jake as she had done earlier, the fact that Haley was giving her pure looks of death had made her go back and sit away from Jake was the only reason that she had left. Was she going to do the one thing that she wanted to do ever since she had laid her eyes on Jake again? She knew that if his wife ever found out about what she was going to do than she was good as dead. She remembered Rose, she remembered how somewhat psychotic she was in her protectiveness of Jake and she was taking a risk by even being here. But if she was going to leave Jake it didn't matter now, so she threw caution to the wind.

And what she did next made Jake's eyes shoot open as their lips touched.**

* * *

****AN:/ It was meant to be a teaser sort of, things will be heating up with me when it comes time for my job and I wanted to leave you wanting more before I have to give almost all of my time to my job. This will last to November indefinitely, but that doesn't mean that I won't make time for y'all in the mean time, I honestly don't know when I'll be able to get another update out, I've always been good with updates, so that's a good sign if you're really into this story. And to address a little matter that came to my attention about Rose and Jake's other children, they won't be playing a big part in this story they're small children and this isn't the right environment for them to be out and about, nor will Erin and Mark's children, HOWEVER in the next story, they'll be all bumped up to main character status. If you want to know more about the development of the other story than I've posted news on my profile page, and be sure to vote in the poll that I have going to decide the name of the next story. Oh and PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW! **


	33. If you push back, I'll push back harder

**Chapter 33 **

**If you push back, I'll push back harder**

* * *

Drawing the gun from the holster at her side, she brought it up as soon as she had reached the back of the van, and then she found her daughter and a big bulky man wrestling, part of her was proud that her daughter was able to hold her own against a man who was probably one full person bigger than her, and the other wanted to shoot the man out of existence. That man had just shot Johnny, so if she or Alyssa didn't give to the man, then Erin and Jake would and they would be more unforgiving, not that Rose herself was merciful to people who shot her loved ones. When she was sure that she had a clean shot, she brought the barrel to rest of the back of the man's head and it took all of her self control not to shoot him. "Hey, settle down cowboy, that's my daughter you're fighting, I know why you're hear and if you leave now you'll find Mr. Grey in that upper floor, he's perfectly fine, now do not try and fight us anymore, you are no match for us, so I'm going to give you one minute to get back into you van, go back to where you came from until we leave…"

"Like hell I will," The man snarled. "Dallas Grey is a crucial agent in the United States Government and I need to know what you wanted."

Rose scoffed and looked up at her daughter who was regaining her footing. "Rest assured Agent…?"

"Ramos…" Agent Ramos finished quieting down slightly.

She smiled. "Agent Ramos, I have no interests in the secrets that Dallas Grey holds, I just needed the location of something that he knows and he is the only person alive that knows where it is, he just told me so if you would like to take him back to his cage be my guest, but please give me at least a half an hour to clear out, and besides Ramos, you're in more trouble than you realize, you just shot my son in-law in front of his Mother and Grandmother and it won't be long until they'll want to pick their teeth with your bones…"

"You know I cannot do that," Ramos responded haughtily. "You have been presumed enemies of the United States and it is my duty to take you in and no matter what you tell me I am not leaving until I have both Dallas Grey and the rest of your people behind bars."

She lowered the gun slightly, storing it in the holster at her side, she fixed the handsome man with a gracious smile, one that was so terribly fake that the Agent was almost offended by it. "You have nothing to fear from me, I have no problems with the Government and besides I would have gone to the ends of the earth to find Dallas and speak with him and you couldn't have possibly stopped me."

"Yeah and who the hell do you think you are?" Ramos shot back with distain in his voice.

Rose smirked and looked over at Alyssa, with a nod her daughter picked up the gun that she had and tossed it to her mother. Cocking it with one motion of her hand she brought it up to rest on the back of the man's head. "I'm your worst nightmare"**

* * *

****Isle of Draco, Dragon Council Security Bunker, Council Meeting Room **

The presence was no longer in his mind, but he could almost feel it in the minds of the soldiers that flanked him and he knew now that the Dark Dragon had control of the Diamond of Draco and the Military, if General Long's family couldn't come through for them, then the world would be doomed. He looked over to the Capitan of the Palace Guard and nodded, they were outside the Council Chamber room and they were now preparing to exact the will of the Dark Dragon. As soon as the doors to the chamber were open. One by one the soldiers filed in to surround the large table where they sat at, and Edward with his hands folded behind his back walked to the center of the table where his one and only hope stood only a few hours before. "In the name of the Dark Dragon, the World Dragon's Council is ordered to surrender to his will at once or be destroyed, they are also ordered to stop all actions that would pose a threat to him…"

"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?" Councilors Kukulkan and Andam seemed to hiss at once.

Edward sighed and looked down. "This is exactly what this looks like, I will say so again, surrender or be destroyed"

"We will never do that." Andam seethed at the Pro Tempore.

Keeler didn't bother to respond to him, instead he took a sharp look around and found that only one Councilor was missing, and that filled him with strained hope. Hopefully no one would notice that Councilor Nebroshka wasn't among them, maybe she would have the sense to warn General Long so he wouldn't be taken by surprise. She would be powerless if she was caught, the Dark Dragon had already stripped the Dragon Council of their powers, they just didn't know it, and they –neglecting Nebroshka- would never find out.

Quickly regaining his composure, he looked at them one last time before giving a small nod to the Guards and for the first time since the founding of the World's Dragon Council, all but one of its members fell dead. Now it would be left to General Long to save them from darkness.**

* * *

****Manhattan New York, The Abandon Huntslair Complex, Vault Level, Vault 639**

Never before in her life had she seen something so amazing, the power of the Huntsclan knew no bounds and it simply reaffirmed her faith that the Clan would rise again and defeat the Dragons. Even though she hadn't gotten to the details, the hard details about it, she found the purpose of it and it was incredibly brilliant and she hoped that she would be able to extract the weapon and the blueprints from their stasis chamber. She wanted to bless the person whose idea it was to put the weapon and the physical record blueprints under stasis. "Computer, deactivate stasis protocol on this chamber, authorization Hunter Rebecca Kay Alpha Nine-Six."

A shrill beep sounded from the audio speaker somewhere in the ceiling and then she heard all too familiar robotic computer voice. "Access denied, voice print recognition protocol failure, this computer unit is programmed to follow the commands of five individuals, last voice command does not match…"

"Identify these individuals, override code_ 933438._" Rebecca sneered.

That was the master override code that she had learned when they had come across the quarters of the Huntsman in the complex. It had served her well many times and she hoped that it would work in this instance. "Computer voice command program for this unit located in Huntsvault 639 is programmed to respond and obey to the voices of Hunter Erin Hutchinson as programmed by the Huntsman, The Huntsgirl Thorn as programmed by the Huntsman, The Huntsman himself, and also added by the Huntsman, Huntsman Sindacco formally Hunter Paul Sindacco."

Rebecca's breath hitched, only the five most powerful Hunters in the entire Huntsclan were able to open this, and she was determined to open it now as a way to sort of prove her worthiness. "Computer, list the name of the beings who where the last to open this vault arrange them according to date…"

"The Huntsman, Approximately twenty years and eight months prior to current date, Huntsman Sindacco formerly Hunter Paul Sindacco, approximately four years prior to this current date," The Computer stated and that surprised Rebecca to know that only two of those five people had ever stepped foot in this vault. "No record found of the Huntsgirl Thorn or Hunter Erin Hutchinson ever entering Vault 639, this unit has not detected them…"

"Computer," Rebecca began putting her hands on her hips in utter annoyance at this situation. "Please specify the nature and designers of this weapon"

"Affirmative," The Computer responded. "The Dragon Nerve Gas Mine was a branch of the Nerve Weapon Program, its main function is to erode the Central and Peripheral Nervous System of a Dragon, however this program appeared to have failed in the process as it ended the lives of several of his testers, the program was discontinued by order of the Huntsman"

There, that was the catch and somehow she knew that there would be one and it seemed ironic that if she used the ultimate weapon to take the Dragon's down, the weapon would take her down in the process. "Who designed it, where was it designed, and why where those people assigned?"

"The designers of the Dragon Nerve Gas Mine where as in order of importance, Hunter Dallas Grey, Status: Exiled, Hunter Erin Hutchison, Status: Exiled and The Huntsgirl Thorn, Status: Exiled," The Computer began in a monotone voice. "The weapon was developed in the Huntsclan Academy Complex, Science Division, put under the supervision of the Huntsclan's top Hunters, the main building was put in seclusion due to the health risks…"

Her eyebrows rose slightly, the she looked back at the mine that was still hanging the vacuum. "Specified reasons for the assignments of the primary designers are as followed, Dallas Grey, who demonstrated an ability to design weapons and for his study of science with one hundred percent efficiently, Erin Hutchinson, who's knowledge of stable elements to design the gas pathogen became invaluable, and the Huntsgirl Thorn, who's knowledge of weapon designs played a critical role, she also was the liaison to the Huntsman, she was ordered to report to him their progress everyday"

"Specify the reason for Huntsman Sindacco being allowed in here?" She asked not containing the curiosity that she was feeling just hearing all of this, if she could amass enough knowledge then she could become the greatest Hunter in history, surpassing all of these people in the room.

"The order to allow Huntsman Sindacco access to this room came approximately four years prior to current date," The Computer began drawing from its internal records. "The order itself came from the Late Huntsman as he was dying, succeeding that order came Sindacco's rise to power…"**

* * *

****Manhattan New York, The Long Family Apartment**

Jake couldn't believe that he was doing this, and he couldn't believe that he was responding to this. He had expected himself to break contact as soon as it had hit him that Trixie was kissing him, but he hadn't, instead after the minute of awkwardness had passed he had tied his arms around her waist and pulled her closer to him. This was wrong, so very wrong but he couldn't stop himself from doing it, and what did it matter anyway? Rose was going to leave him. But then the thought of never having the chance to work it out with her made him stop and pull away from her as if she was on fire.

"W-We can't do this." Jake said looking rather frightened.

Trixie looked confused. "Why shouldn't we Jake? Rose doesn't want to be with you anymore, I do, I'm willing to give you things that she hasn't you-"

"What exactly hasn't Rose given me?" Jake said shooting up to his feat feeling offence and anger at what his soon to be former friend and said.

She had to be honest with herself, Rose had given everything to Jake, or that's what it had seemed by looking at the pictures that adorned the walls, but she wasn't right for him. When they were fourteen and when she, Spud and Jake had found out about Rose's true self, she wholeheartedly believed that Rose was dangerous and she hadn't said anything at the time, but she wanted to do all that she could to keep her away from him. But she hadn't and through that all of this happened, and by extension she had allowed her best friend to be hurt like this. The guilt that she was feeling was powerful.

"I'm sorry I let this happen to you." She said quietly looking down.

Jake narrowed his eyes in pure confusion. "What the hell are you talking around Trixie? You didn't let anything happen to me, I haven't seen you in-"

"Along time yeah I know," Trixie put her hand up. "But this happened a long time ago, if I had done what I wanted to do then you wouldn't be hurting right now, trust me when I tell you this that I feel guilty for not keeping you away from her, because you wouldn't have had to deal with this…"

His eyes softened at her apparent revelation. "Explain…"**

* * *

****CapitalTown Motel, Inside the Motel Room**

"Mama's here, Mama's here," Erin whispered to her unconscious son who was now lying on the bed. "You just get some rest we've gotten you patched up"

The tears that had spilled down her cheeks and subsided now, and as she backed away from the bed, she looked over to her mother who was now looking concerned at the wound that was in her Grandson's arm. Erin's face tensed, she could read her mother like a book and she could tell that her evaluation of the wound wasn't good. "Mom, w-what is it, is it bad?"

"I've extracted the bullet," Jackie said concern in all of her words. "But I think it's shattered his humorous, I'm going to need to set it until we get to a hospital, first I'm going to need you to rip up a sheet and-"

Erin shook up her head and cut off her mother. "I've set broken bones before Mom."

"Honey he'll be fine, he'll just be really sore until the hospital." She said.

"It's not that," Erin said as she walked over to the closet and pulled a folded sheet down from the top of the closet. "I was just thinking what would have happened if his fucking father were here, what his father would have done to help him which would probably be nothing, he would have called him weak"

Her first grandchild's father still pissed Jackie off to no end, and she found it so amusing and somewhat gratifying that Johnny was the one to kill Paul. It was poetic justice. "But Paul isn't here, you are, you obsessed and cried over Johnny for years and wondered how his life was going and what kind of a person he was, now you know and now you have a chance to be his mother"

"I am his mother," Erin answered simply. "And the first thing I'm going to go do, I'm gonna' go out there and I'm gonna kill whoever shot my son."

She didn't even bother to look at her mother's face, but she was slightly surprised that her mother sounded proud. "I'd do the same thing Erin."

"You should wake up Dallas, he's a scientist, he can help you find out what Johnny needs," Erin responded flatly as she reached the door.

As she opened it however, she was met with the faces of Rose, Alyssa and her husband Mark. She shared a glance with them all and then a look of impatience and annoyance came to her face. "Well? Are you going to move or do you want me to move you?"

"No need to get snappy, I heard what you said," Rose said with a sympathetic smile. "Don't worry about him, I just shot him in the head…"

Erin sneered, not a Rose, but at this person who had shot Johnny. "Did the son of a bitch suffer, if you didn't make him suffer than I'm gonna-"

"You saw what I do when people attack or hurt my kids," She smiled with a hint of sternness in her voice. "Like it or not, I consider Johnny one of my kids I did before he married my daughter, and I do now, I killed him for two reasons, he shot my son in-law and he tried to do the same to Alyssa…"

Almost at the sound of her husband's name being said, Alyssa pushed past her mother, mother in-law and father in-law to run into the room. And at the sight of Johnny on that made her choke on the phrase, "Oh my god."

* * *

**AN:/ This chapter marks the end of the second act, the next chapter will begin the third and final act of the story. From this point on, everything will be working towards the epilogue, all of the things that we've been building to in the previous 32 chapters will be resolved in the next 8 chapters. Anyway, please tell me what you think about this chapter in a REVIEW.**

**PLEASE REVIEW!**


	34. The Darkness Begins

**Chapter 34 **

**The Darkness Begins…**

**Capital Town Motel **

It took a long time for Dallas to awake, the last thing he remembered almost made him fall back into unconsciousness but then again he would be awake to remember the thing that was perhaps the most arousing thing that he had seen in his entire life. When he opened his eyes, he found himself looking at five people who were hovering around a bed, he could clearly make out Jackie, Erin and Rose, but the other woman and the man were people he didn't know. One of them moved, and then he saw a man sitting on the bed uncounious, and his arm was set with what looked like a haphazardly ripped sheet. He didn't know what he could so at this point without being at the end of Rose's wrath, but he reality set in for him and he knew that he needed to get out of here, he remembered those Government people who shot up his house in Bethesda and he didn't want them to shoot up anything else. "Hey! Can someone let me out of here?"

"Not quite yet," Rose was the first one to answer him. "First you going to answer my questions, why the hell is the Government chasing you?"

He was surprised that she couldn't figure that out for herself. "Rose, I'm the Chairman and CEO of the world's largest Weapon's design and manufacturing company, I have contracts with foreign countries, some of which aren't really friendly with the US and they've always kept an eye on me."

"Why the hell didn't you tell me this earlier?" Jackie spoke from the other side of the bed; pure rage was burning in her eyes.

Dallas did his best to shrug from the bonds that he was still in. "I didn't think that they would have gone so far as to try to kill me, what else can I say?"

"You can tell us the truth," Rose sat flatly staring deeply into his eyes. "I think you're lying, and I'm almost positive that you know something we don't."

"And what exactly would that be?" He shot back growing very annoyed by her mistrust in him, what was he thinking? she had no reason to trust him.

Rose simply narrowed her eyes and it was if she was seeing the truth behind his words, and then he panicked which he knew was on oblivious sign that he was keeping something from them. But he was strong, and it would take more than Rose's famous death glare to get him to break. He was not expecting however to have Erin walk from the side of the bed, push past Rose and stand in front of him, and he was not expecting her to pull the gun she had at her side out of its holster and push the barrel into his forehead. Looking up he saw something in those green eyes of hers, a rage that he had never seen from the woman, a rage that would destroy him if he didn't play his cards right. He was about to open his mouth to speak when he was silenced by a slap in the face by Erin's free hand.

"Shut up! I'm talking now, you listen to me, you know something that we don't know, you know how they found us so quickly and you are going to tell me how they did it now," She paused for a moment to cock the gun and press it painfully further into Dallas forehead. "Or I'm going to blow your brains out."

He didn't say anything, he was too paralyzed by fear, and Erin bared her teeth in response brining her hand up and raising one finger. Ten seconds passed and in that very short amount of time he still didn't say anything and that caused Erin to bring up a second finger, he knew that when she raised the third finger that she would send a bullet passing through his skull. He began to think of all of the things that he would be losing, he would lose his family, his company and his pride and joy his brain, he blinked once and looked back up at Erin who was seething now. "A-Alright, I'm not sure but a few months ago when I opened up negotiations to manufacture guns for the Saudi Arabian Government, I was approached by a team of men who beat the hell out of me and took me back to my house, I later found out at that they were a group of CIA agents and I was expecting them to come back and tell me not to go ahead with the Saudi negotiations, but they didn't and I went ahead with the deal, I along with my team of body guards were so convinced that they placed trackers on me and…"

"And?" Erin snarled beckoning him to continue.

Dallas sighed, and tried to ignore the beads of sweat that were now all over his body. "And it turns out that they did, and somehow as soon as I found out about it I was approached by that same team and told not to remove the trackers, they told me to wear one at all times for my security, so I did and I'm wearing one now, that's how they know where you are…"

A heavy silence ripped through the room, a silence that Dallas would have done anything to get away from, and just as he thought that they would stop questioning him he felt Erin's hands encircle his throat and clamp done like a vice. She brought her face inches from his and growled fierily. "What in the hell is it in? And don't play games; I'm not in the mood for it"

He couldn't say, again the fear had managed to clamp down on all of his brain function, but he was thrown back into thinking when a sharp surge of pain ripped through his right leg, he could almost feeling his knee cap shattering from the bullet Erin's gun had deposited in it. The bitch shot his knee out! That wasn't her style, that was more of Rose's game, but here was the passive aggressive Erin Hutchinson using the methods of the openly aggressive and somewhat psychotic Huntsgirl. "Tell me where it's hidden or I'm gonna shot you in the crotch."

Not saying a word, he watched as Erin cocked the gun and aimed it squarely at the crouch of his pants. "You wouldn't dare!"

"Do you really want to play chicken with me?" Erin retorted with an evil gleam.

"AH ALRIGHT," Dallas screamed not wanting to take this anymore, who in the hell could it possibly harm if he just told them. "I-IT'S IN MY BELT BUCKLE!"

Lowering the gun, Erin stowed it and reached down to unclasp the large –strangely heavy- brass buckle of Dallas's belt. In one swift motion, she pulled the belt out of the loops that circled around his pants and she looked over her shoulder and tossed it to Rose. And as soon as the Huntsgirl caught it in her hand, she reached in the pocket of her pants and pulled out a small pocket knife, putting the blade in a small but noticeably the only crease in the buckle, she ripped the cover off and she was presented with a indeed a GPS unit. She looked over at Erin and nodded. "He's telling the truth, and by the looks of the map on his thing, we have about fifteen minutes to haul ass out of here."

"And the first order of business," Erin sneered turning back to Dallas and bringing the gun up to his forehead. "Is killing this parasite"

And before he could even mouth a protest, he felt his chair being kicked over and as he opened his eyes, the last thing he saw was Erin's sneering face and then everything was black.

**Manhattan New York, The Long Family Apartment**

This wasn't so easy to explain, in the process of two hours her school girl crush had been reignited and now she had to face the consequences of her actions, and by the look on Jake's face it wouldn't be easy to do that. It was hard for her to find the courage to even come over here, she was worried that Rose hadn't left this place, and that she was going to pop out of the closet and attack her, but from what Jake and Haley had explained she was in Washington and wouldn't be back for some time. And that was the only thing that had compelled her to come over here other than that little crush she had on Jake. Leaning back into the couch, she looked up at his face and she tried to take him in fearing she would never see him again.

Jake was very handsome, sure she had always thought that but now that they were older she thought that he developed even more. He was much taller, and Trixie observed that he now towered over her much to her complete amusement, his face bore the sings of age and some stress that she wouldn't have known about, and his body, it was muscular, he wasn't ripped but it was just right. Trixie's breath shuttered as she realized that he was watching her and where her eyes were darting, and she almost laughed. "Listen, this isn't easy for me to say."

"But you are going to tell me right? Because Trixie this isn't exactly the time that things need to be kept from me." He said in calm voice, he needed to shrug off the embarrassment.

She looked down into her lap and wished that she would never have picked up the phone and talked to Haley. "Yeah, I think it's time, after all I've kept this in for twenty three years."

When the sudden realization dawned over him, he felt himself choke on his own breath and then he looked over at her. "Are you about to tell me what I think you're about to tell me?"

Trixie gulped and the she nodded her head. "Yo-You see, I've always sort of liked you, you know, the way you liked Rose, or the way Spud liked me…"

"W…Well," Jake said feeling all of the blood rush out of his head and flood his cheeks in the darkest blush that he thought he had ever experienced. "I-I'm flattered Trix I am …and I would be lying to you if I told you that I had never felt that way about you before, but never to the extent of the way that I love my wife, I am so sorry Trixie but this can't happen…"

"I understand," Trixie said lowering her head, the shame seemed too much for her. "But it feels so good to finally tell someone that, most of all you, and I do hope you work it out with her, from all of these pictures that I see and the looks on the both of your faces, I can tell that you really love each other, besides you wouldn't want all of those little squirts to grow up without the both of you"

Jake wasn't listening, he had stopped listening after he finished what he had to say, there was a splitting pain in his head that had caused him to just stand there dazed and confused. He felt this pain erupting from stomach and then he screamed in utter pain as something left him, the entire apartment was illuminated by a blinding light and Jake knew exactly what it was, and not only did it scare him to have this take away from him, it confused him. A whole part of his being was gone, the part that he had cherished almost his entire life as a gift. It was gone, his powers, they were all gone.

His thoughts of panic where interrupted by the same pained howl erupting from his bedroom, grasping his chest, he looked at the confused face of Trixie. "Haley, I have to go check on her."

**Manhattan New York, The Abandoned Huntslair Facility, Makeshift Common Room Area **

From his most early days, Daniel Mills had been taught that the Huntsclan was first above everything else in the lives of the people that served it, but the more time that he had spent hidden away here under the constant teachings of the Academy Teachers, the more he began to yearn for a normal life of a teenage boy. He knew that he wasn't normal, he knew that he could never be normal, even if he was able to get out of here and live a life, he would always be marked by the Clan and he would always remember the things that he learned. The only regret that he would have if he left right now, the fact that he would be living about seven children who hadn't turned ten here to be pushed around by Becky and her egotistical way, he had grown close to them over the past few years and he now considered them the siblings that he never had. If he was ever going to leave this place, he swore to himself that he would never leave these small children here.

"Daniel?" A small voice asked him, it was that of the youngest of the group of small children, a seven year old girl named Marissa.

He turned and shot the little girl a small smile. "Hey, how are you?"

"I couldn't sleep," She said meekly. "I had a bad nightmare, and I just need someone to talk to."

Daniel smiled and opened his arms to the little girl who walked forward and sat down in his lap. "I'm here for you, you know sometimes this place still gives me the creeps…"

"I hate it here," Marissa began. "I hate Becky too she's mean, and I hope she get's eaten alive by a dragon…"

He couldn't help but laugh, apparently the humor that a Hunter developed was growing strong in the girl despite the fact of not being in contact with any other Hunter. "That's certainly creative."

"Well I mean it," She pouted and buried her face in Daniels chest. "I want to go outside, I want to eat spaghetti and cheeseburgers, and ice cream, and I'm tired of eating the stuff that's here"

At the sound of the names of the foods that Daniel himself missed deeply, his stomach rumbled and it rumbled loudly and that caused Marissa to giggle. "Well it sounds like I miss them too."

"When are we going to leave?" She asked not knowing that he had been thinking that same thing that the instant.

Reaching up to hug the little girl, he patted her back in an attempt to comfort her and sighed. "I don't know, but I hope it's really, really soon."

**Outside the Capital Town Motel, Just Outside Washington D.C**

A sharp pain shot through Alyssa, it felt like she was being stabbed and shot by a dozen knives and guns all at once, and before she knew it, a blinding light left her through her mouth and when it finally disappeared. She knew that the audience that she received was gaping at her, and she hated attention even if it was from a group of people that she was comfortable with. When she finally regained her thoughts and when her breathing had finally slowed down to a point to where she could talk again, she took a sharp look around and fear laced her eyes. "Honey what is it?"

Her mother was concerned, and she didn't want to scare her by the fact that she was sure that she had lost her Dragon Powers. Alyssa's voice betrayed her faux confidence as it came out in short gasps. "I-I'm fine…"

"No you're not," Rose snapped. "Clearly something bad just happened."

"I-I need to talk to Daddy," She breathed. "Something _has_ happened"

Rose paled, she wanted to know if Jake was alright, and if the same thing had happened to both him and Haley. She was going to haul ass back home.

**

* * *

**

**AN:/ I'm glad I finally killed off Dallas, I was beginning to grow annoyed with his character all together. In case you're shocked that Alyssa, Haley and Jake lost their Dragon Powers, don't be, I warned you that this was going to happen a few chapters ago. My one concern with this chapter is the scene with Trixie and Jake, it didn't quite meet what I wanted it to be but I'm gonna go ahead a take a risk on it. Regarding the scene with Daniel and Marissa, I'm not quite through with them in fact if you must know they'll be regular characters in the next story, I won't spoil for you how that'll happen, and you'll just have to keep reading to find out. So here are some questions that I'd like you to think about in preparation for the next chapter. **

**Has Luong lost his Dragon Powers? **

**Will Jake, Hayley and Alyssa get theirs back? **

**How will Rose react to the news of Trixie? (**_**Yes they will meet**_**)**

**Will Johnny get the attention that he needs? **

**What affect will Johnny getting shot continue to have on Erin? **

**What has happened to Dragon Councilor Nebroshka who escaped the Isle? **

**And what will happen to the other lost Hunters, besides Rebecca? **

**And will you leave a review for me to tell me your input of these things? **

**LEAVE A REVIEW, YOU DO SEE THE REVIEW BUTTON, PRESS IT, IT'S JUST RIGHT THERE, IT'S CALLING TO YOU. JUST TAKE A FEW SECONDS AND WRITE A SMALL ONE EVEN. OR YOU KNOW WHAT IF YOU DON'T, I'LL HUNT YOU DOWN AND MAKE YOU WATCH '**_**Gigli**_**' WHICH TO MY KNOWLEDGE IS ONE OF THE WORST MOVIES EVER. **


	35. Guilt

Chapter 35

**Guilt**

In her mind she knew that she shouldn't have acted that way, it had been a long time since she let her instincts kick in like that and it had proved to be too much for Dallas Grey. She winced at thought of Mark seeing what she did, since they had left Washington which had been an hour ago, he had hadn't looked at her or spoken to her. Maybe it was too much for him, and if that was the case then she wouldn't stop him if he decided to go and take the kids with him, perhaps it was for the best. She knew that Rose and her Mother couldn't judge her, because that would be akin to the pots calling the kettle black, and in other cases they were worse than she was.

For the first time since that night she left the Huntsclan, the more violent side of her had shown and she knew that before this was all over it would make another appearance. Erin just needed to talk with Mark, she needed to know that he wasn't going to be scared off because she killed someone.

"Mark?" She asked breaking the silence in the car.

Her mother, herself and Mark had decided to take Alyssa and Johnny's car back, while Rose and Alyssa decided to drive Johnny back up to the city while he could rest in the back seat. Erin had objected at first, saying that she needed to be with her son, but the matter of time had gotten in the way and that was the only reason that she wasn't in that car. When her husband looked at her, she saw some strange emotion flicker in his eyes, something that looked akin to shook. "Yeah, what do you need honey?"

"Are you okay with what I did back there?" Erin asked nervously.

Mark shrugged and blew out a sigh. "What can I say, I mean I wasn't expecting it, but you did give me a warning that you can kill easily."

"The son of a bitch wasn't telling me what I wanted to know," Erin seethed quietly trying to keep _that_ side of herself out of her voice. "He's probably the reason that my son was shot, I wasn't going to take that on the chin…"

From the driver's seat, Jackie spoke for the very first time since leaving Washington. "You did the right thing Erin, I would have done worst to him if you were shot, Mark don't be so quick to judge her, compared to what I can and would do she's got more of a conscious, I'd have tortured him slowly…"

"Mama I was on the verge of doing that." Erin remarked with a snort.

Jackie drummed her fingers of the steering wheel. "I wouldn't have blamed you I would have helped you for that matter, don't eat yourself up Erin…"

"She killed someone Jackie, she took out a life." Mark responded.

He was trying to save face and pretend that none of this bothered him in the slightest, he was trying to pretend so that he could stay with Erin. But he had seen her take out a life with a small movement of her hand and something about that disturbed him to his very core. Mark even had the one thought that he would have never expected to think come over his mind, was Erin a danger to their children? Only time would tell. "That guy, I looked up all of the information on him, he had a wife, he had three kids and none of them are even older than ten, do you realize that you just killed their-"

"SHUT UP!" Erin screeched, her eyes widening substantially.

Mark did as he was told, and he could almost feel the anger that Jackie herself was exuding to him coming from the driver's seat. "Mark you need to stay off of this subject, it wouldn't be wise to push this any further."

"And why is that Jackie?" Mark asked feeling intimidated by both women.

"Because you idiot," Erin hissed, her green eyes narrowing to slits. "Family is a touchy subject for me, Johnny is the crown jewel of my reasons for that subject being a nerve, so shut up, and you know what Mark if you want to leave me because you think I'm somehow psychotic, than fucking do it!"

That took him back a bit, he knew how much Johnny affected her because he could see it in her emerald depths whenever she looked at him. And no matter how much he was just shocked without her right now, he loved her, he loved everything about her. So he did back off, and guilt washed over his face and his stony features melted. "Look, I-I'm sorry I brought that up…"

"No you're not," She responded trying to shrink into her side of the backseat of the car. "You wouldn't have said anything if you didn't, you have no idea how much this has pushed me over the restrictions that I put on my actions and feelings, the kind of actions and feelings that would kill a whole room of people if properly motivated to do so, but that man was in his own way responsible for what happened to my son and I'd kill him a hundred times."

Mark's face contorted into a mask of shame. "When I said sorry, I meant it."

"Just be quiet for right now Mark, I need some time to think." She responded quietly, and that's all they said for a little while longer.

Turning around, he folded his arms across his chest and looked into the headrest of the driver's seat. "I think that Alyssa and I'll get along very well"

"Yes she's a sweet girl," Jackie commented from the front of the car. "I think Johnny's lucky to have her, and Erin you should thank Rose for taking him in and when he was a baby keeping an eye on him and his father…"

Erin snorted and shook her head in amusement. "First of all Mama, I think that I should thank Alyssa for taking Johnny in, and as far as that whole keeping an eye on him thing goes, I thanked her for that a few hours ago…"

"And don't you worry about Johnny honey," Jackie tried to reassure her with the best of her ability. "He's got a lot of people who care about him and he'll be just fine, and think about it, you finally have a chance to be his mother"

She smiled to herself, her mother was right, sure she had said it back at the Motel but it hadn't quite sunk in there just yet. Erin could be Johnny's mother at least to an extent, the time for babying him and taking him to his soccer games had passed, but she could be happy with that extent. And now that she thought about it, her first born did have a whole group of people her cared for him, and they were perhaps the toughest people she knew and Erin knew that Johnny would get the help he needed because of that fact.

* * *

"I-I think my powers, th-they're gone." Alyssa gasped in shock.

Yes, that's what had to be wrong, that was the only thing that could possibly explain that _empty_ feeling in her. She turned and looked over to her mother who was visibly pale, and she could tell exactly what she was thinking. Her mother was worried about her father, and Alyssa had to be frank with herself, she was worried about him too. He had the powers of a dragon far long that she had and it had become a part of himself and to lose apart of one's self was some horrible. "Does it hurt to lose them?"

Alyssa's eyes narrowed in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I mean is it painful, are you in any pain?" Rose asked again, franticly.

Shaking her head violently, she wanted to reassure her that in fact it wasn't painful and that she shouldn't worry about Jake. But somehow, she knew that it would be very hard to get her mother's mind off of her father. "I know what you're thinking mom, and to be honest I don't know if he's alright."

"SHIT, SHIT, SHIT!" Rose screamed, and then tears began to stream down her face, the guilt that she was feeling was completely overwhelming to her.

"I let him down," She shook her head trying to push past the thoughts.

She knew she shouldn't have taken her eyes off of the road, but the entire rode was deserted and her hand eye coordination was excellent even when she was using her peripheral vision. The tears where now pouring down her face, but her voice was completely calm and still which scared Alyssa slightly. "H-Honey, call your dad, I want to talk to him."

Reaching inside her pocket, Alyssa grasped her cell phone and flipped it open, and as she managed a weak smile, she dialed the number. "God Damn it is about time you did this, and Mother, you have some serious groveling to do, it must feel surreal to you…"

"There's a first time for everything I suppose," Rose smiled as she grasped the phone, and for one of the few moments in her life, she was anxious.**

* * *

****AN: This chapter was purposely short, it's purpose is to set up the things that'll happen in the next chapter. I'm sorry about the length, if that irritates you I'm sorry but it'll all work out in the end. The next chapter will be dominated by Rose/Jake/Trixie interaction. So please leave a review, and tell me what you think! **


	36. Don't test your theory with me

**AN:/ What happens in this chapter is crucial to the Rose/Jake/Trixie 'Love Triangle' (I'm not even sure if that's the right word for it lol) this entire chapter will be devoted to the reason that Rose and Trixie hate each other and it will give you a very oblivious clue of how Rose will react to her. Now I want to set this setting up in this beginning note, Rose and Jake are seventeen years old and this is the night that Alyssa is conceived. So if you do the math this is nine months before Anything and Everything 'Beginning' I hope you'll like it. **

**And don't worry about it; the showdown happens in the next chapter. **

**Chapter 36 **

**Don't test your theory with me, it'll hurt you. **

_She looked great, as she did normally. Jake had always told her that she could put on twenty pounds and wear her hair in curlers and she'd always turn the eyes of all the men she passed by, and some of the women to but that was another story. It was winter in New York City, and tonight was the one night that Jake and her were free from their responsibilities, Rose on the hand was looking forward to this and on the other dreading it, for two reasons really. _

_Earlier that day, Trixie Carter, one of Jake's friends had called her and talked to her and what she had said shocked her greatly. All day, Jake had been complaining and worrying about their date tonight, and that he had told Spud who had told her that he wanted tonight to be his first time with Rose. When she heard that come from Trixie, she laughed, but it wasn't an amused laugh, it was a nervous laugh that was forced out be anxiety._

_She had told him that she herself was a virgin, but that wasn't true, and she'd liked to have forgotten her actual first time. And tonight if thing worked out like she wanted them to go and how Jake wanted them to go, then she would forget about …that… and just save Jake as her first. But in the mean time she had to deal with Trixie. "What do you want? I'm already late to meet him." _

_The woman had actually had the nerve to invite her over to her house for a little chat, Rose supposed they would be in private, from what Jake had told of Trixie her mother was either a flight attendant or pilot she was only half listening. _

"_Where the hell do you think you going out in the getup?" Trixie questioned. _

_Rose chuckled and her eyebrows rose so for up that they seemed to meet at her forehead. "Well Mom, I plan to go out with my boyfriend tonight." _

"_You seem to be anticipating something." It was a statement, not a question. _

_Shrugging, Rose grinned. "And why do you give a damn?" _

"_He's my best friend," Trixie stated. "I do give a damn for his feelings." _

_That offended Rose, to her it sounded as if Trixie had implied that she didn't give a damn about Jake and the was completely false, to the contrary she actually adored everything about him. Rose, being Rose, wanted retaliation and there was only one way to do that. "Do you think these leather pants are too much, cause' the sex is to happen at the end of the date, and if I just show off all night then I have a feeling that I won't be able to walk tomorrow." _

"_You think your just hot shit don't you?" An enraged and uncomfortable Trixie asked the gloating woman standing in her living room. _

_Rose looked down at herself, for a moment of narcissism she did even excite herself. This was her magic combination, the combination of clothes that she wore when she wanted Male attention and it hadn't failed her once, wearing the sensual combination of black leather knee-high boots and black leather pants, she topped the ensemble off with a black strapless top. All black, the magic combination. "Well I'd say from what I'm wearing and from what you are I think if I'm not hotshot then you certainly aren't, so stop talking shit honey and tell me what you want so I can go on my date with Jake." _

"_I'm telling you not to go and fuck him the first chance you get." Trixie stated. _

_Scoffing, Rose put her hands on her hips and looked at the other girl incredulously. "Then why did you call me and tell me about what he said?" _

"_I just thought you should know I guess," Trixie shrugged weakly trying to keep the words that she really wanted to say in. "Look please, for me, don't do it." _

"_Look two things," Rose narrowed her eyes. "Number one, I don't know you, you are not my friend and I don't owe you anything, and Number two, if I want to fuck Jake into the early morning, I plan on doing it, and you can't stop me…"_

_That seemed to set something inside of Trixie off, she stood up from the couch and came face to face with Rose. She just wanted to beat the hell out of the girl, but she was smart enough to know that it wouldn't end well, for her anyway. _

"_I'm warning you," Trixie seethed. "Don't you hurt Jake, or you deal with me." _

_Rose smirked smugly. "A bullet sounds the same in every part of the world, and if you try to get between me and Jake then I'll take you to some distant part of the world and test my little hypothesis and you know I'll pull some strings and the plane that we take to that distant part of the world will be one your mom will fly, you know insult to injury, or in your case it'll be death…" _

"_You're fucking crazy." The other girl hissed in disgust. _

_Snorting, she let out something of a psychotic school girl's laugh. "You're damn right, that's how much I love Jake, and it doesn't take the smartest bitch on the block to tell that you're love with him, but you're too late, he is mine and if you try to drive a wedge between us, I will find you and kill you…" _

"_Then Jake will kill you." Trixie said not believing it for a second._

"_You think so? I doubt it, maybe if I killed his sister or something, but not you, sure he'd be pissed, but he wouldn't kill me, and as if he could anyway," Rose said almost to herself as a passing memory fell into her mind's eye. "I will be watching you Trixie, I'm not going to tell Jake to stay away from you because he's your friend and that's cruel not that threatening to kill you isn't cruel, but if you slip up and tell him how you feel, I will be ready to pounce-" _

_Trixie couldn't believe what she was hearing. "And what will you do next?" _

"_Oh, kill you," She said with a serious face. "Then maybe I'll go after your mother, oh what do you suggest, drug her and cause her to nose dive into a big city like Paris? or Rome? Killing thousands, you know pilot error…" _

"_Why you bitch!" Trixie growled and bringing her hand up to try and slap her. _

_But Rose, with the reflexes of lighting and the strength of the Huntsgirl saw it coming and she quickly caught Trixie's arm and twisted it with the strength of her bare hand, a pained and unexpected scream came from Trixie as she realized her mistake. "You better understand that when I make a threat, I never let up, and I never forget about said threats, tread on thin ice with me." _

_Then with disgust, she tossed the arm back at the side of its owner and spun on her heel towards the door. "You'll break, you'll fuck up and lose him mark my words!" _

"_Don't test your theory with me," Rose stopped turned and tossed her hair over her shoulder and with a smug wink she smiled. "It'll hurt less when it fails." _

_**

* * *

**_

_**AN:/ Again this is a short chapter, did I make Rose too much of a psycho bitch? I'm glad I did, that's what I wanted. Anyway tell me what you think and how Rose and Trixie will react to each other, and you're lucky, there'll be another update this weekend! And it's the big one, cannot wait for you to read it. **_

_**If you would be so kind as to leave me a review. **_


	37. Threats

Chapter 37

**Threats **

* * *

"Hello?" He answered, and for the first time in her life, she froze up and she found that she didn't have any control of her voice whatsoever. It was a frightening feeling and she didn't want to feel it for much longer, the guilt and the sadness that she felt were also contributing to her inability to talk.

Rose tapped the steering wheel impatiently and then she finally worked up the nerve and as she sharply cleared her throat, she swallowed and sighed heavily. "Hi Jake, it's me, I just wanted to know how you where?"

"Really Rose? Are you calling out of concern for me or for Alyssa?" Jake asked and his voice was filled with bitterness and anger that was with her.

"A little of both actually," Rose conceded. "What was that?"

Jake sighed. "I don't know but I think our family's powers of have been stripped, it happened to me and Haley, is she doing okay?"

"Yeah, she's a little shaky, but fine," She said stealing a glance at her daughter who was watching in interest. "And by the way, Johnny was shot."

"Oh no, is he alright?" He asked knowing how that would affect his daughter.

Rose shook her head. "Yeah, Jackie extracted the bullet, though we think it might have shattered his arm, they're gonna try and take him to a hospital."

"What do you mean them? Aren't you going to go?" He asked.

"No," Rose said firmly. "I got the information out of Dallas Grey, I know where the nerve gas is and I'm gonna go and get it out of there"

"Alone? Oh hell no," Jake actually laughed. "That's not happening _dear_, I'm going with you if they're going to be at hospital, awkward or not."

She scoffed. "And what the hell makes you think you can tell me what I do?"

"I have a vested interest in the life growing in you," Jake pointed out with sarcasm and bitterness. "You won't be going anywhere without me with you."

She felt her face go red with some indescribable emotion, she smiled and looked over at her daughter with a wink. "Fine, and you do have a point, okay, I'm going to need you to go into my special room and get a bag ready, get some guns, a few knifes, maybe get a tool kit, and some flashlights, we'll need them for where it is."

"And where is this place at Rose?" He asked curiously.

"Oh the Huntslair in Manhattan," Rose said feigning un-interest. "Yeah, apparently it was a hundred feet under me and I never knew it, the thought pisses me off."

And just before she could hear his response, a female voice sounded clearly in the background. A voice that was so painstakingly familiar that she almost drove the car right off of the road, instead she signaled and quickly pulled over to the shoulder, there were no cars on the road besides the other one that was carrying Jackie, Erin and Mark. Rose noticed at the corner of her eye that they had pulled over as well. "Jake that better not be who I think it is, or the shit will hit the fan."

"What? You have a problem with Trixie?" Jake sounded clueless and Rose could understand, but that still didn't help the jealousy that was clouding her mind.

Getting out the car, she jumped up as quickly as she could and slammed the door behind her. "HELL YES I DO! WHAT YOU THINK I DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT HER LITTLE CRUSH ON YOU? AND WHAT DID SHE TELL YOU? OH I THINK _TRIX _REMEMBERS WHAT I SAID I WOULD DO TO HER IF SHE EVEN TOLD YOU THAT!"

"YOU KNEW!" Jake yelled, partly because he was clueless about all of this.

"OF COURSE I FUCKING DID! I'M NOT STUPID JAKE! WHY DO YOU THINK YOU GREW APART DURING MY PREGANCY WITH ALYSSA! GODAMNIT! LET ME TALK TO HER NOW!" Rose yelled, she was now surrounded by Erin, Mark, Jackie and Alyssa.

It was a few more moments and above her angry panting she heard them arguing, a tight smile came across her face, Jake knew better than to deny her something like this. She would make it clear to Trixie that you do not cross her when it comes to her family, that smile turned into a wicked, evil grin when the slightly meek voice of Trixie Carter answered the phone. "Hi Rose, how are you?"

"Shut Up," Rose hissed. "Do you remember or conversation we had all those years ago about what I'd do to you if you told my husband that you loved him?"

Alyssa who was listening looked shocked, and she had to force herself to not gape at her mother ask who that was. The former Huntsgirl almost laughed when she heard the response from her husband's former friend. "Yeah, but my mother's dead and you don't want him anymore, so I've got nothing to lose here."

"BUT I'M MARRIED TO HIM NOW YOU BITCH," Rose screamed. "AND IF YOU THINK FOR ONE SECOND THAT I'M GONNA LET YOU HAVE HIM THEN YOU HAVE ANOT-"

"Didn't you say that you wanted to divorce him? He's fair game Rose." She said.

Her voice was infuriatingly clam, and Rose turned and kicked at her door of her car in pure rage. "I DIDN'T MEAN WHAT I SAID, IT SLIPPED OUT, NOW I WANT TO MAKE MYSELF ABUNDANTLY CLEAR! I AM A HALF AN HOUR AWAY FROM THERE AND IF YOU ARE THERE WHEN I GET THERE, I AM GOING TO BEAT YOU TO DEATH, AND I WILL NOT GET CAUGHT, YOU HAVE THAT LONG TO GET OUT OF THERE AND IF I EVER SEE YOUR FACE AGAIN I WILL KILL YOU…"

"Your bitchy threats are worthless," Trixie taunted, knowing that she was digging herself into a deeper hole with Jake's wife. "Come and get me, I have Jake here…"

Rose scoffed. "YOU THINK HE CAN PROTECT YOU FROM ME? YOU ARE A STUPID SKANK I CAN BEAT HIS ASS UP AND DOWN THE STREET AND I CAN THROW YOU FROM OUR BALCONY DOWN ONTO THE STREET, IN FACT BITCH I WANT YOU TO STAY THERE BECAUSE I WANT TO PULL YOU OUT OF MY APARTMENT MYSELF…"

"I'll be here …with Jake…" Trixie taunted knowing it would piss Rose off even more.

"FUCK YOU! LET ME TALK TO _MY HUSBAND_." She responded angrily.

It was another few seconds before she heard Jake on the phone again, he was now shooting off a lot of questions and she didn't have the patience to answer them right now, she had to go trekking through the Abandoned Huntslair she had the whole fighting thing with Jake, it just drained her. Maybe she would be able to sleep sometime by the end of the week. "Jake! Shut up please, I'm sorry that I yelled but if you knew the whole story then you'd understand why I'm pissed off."

"I don't want to know Rose," Jake responded. "And what did I hear you say about the divorce, Trixie had the phone on speakerphone so I could hear it all."

Slapping her palm against her forehead in an almost comical gesture, Rose sighed and looked down. Absently he ticked a rock onto the road and turned to look at her car. "I love you alright, I don't want this to end, and I certainly don't want you to go to Trixie, she only wants you, not your personality or your real love. Oh God baby I'm so sorry that I've been treating you like shit. Please, please forgive me."

Jake was silent, this was certainly something that he hadn't been expecting from her and she was glad for some reason, it must have meant that he was thinking about it which was good or at least she thought. "You know Rose your very cruel."

His voice was deathly quiet, and it was the voice that he used to admonish her about things when she screwed up. "I know, look I don't want to end this, can we please talk about this and work it out, I've been so busy lately but I'll make time."

"Yeah I guess," Jake again said quietly. "Look do you have any other things you want to say to me or you things that you want me to do? Or can I hang up now?"

"Trixie is not leave that apartment, and don't forget to get a bag ready." She said.

"Sure," He affirmed. "Goodbye Rose."

Hanging up the phone, she sniffled slightly and handed the phone back to her concerned daughter. She didn't want to talk about it right now and she tried making that point as non-verbally as she could, after she was sure that the phone was back in her daughter's pocket, she opened the car door and slipped it and as she always had to make a big exit she slammed it shut loudly.

* * *

Jake almost wanted to contact the council and ask why his and his family's Dragon Powers had been stripped, there was absolutely no reason whatsoever that they could have done this legally. And if he remembered the law of the Council correctly, it was only by the word of the Pro Tempore that an entire family could have its powers stripped. When he got his hands on Keeler, he was going to kill him, but now that he didn't have his powers he didn't have all of the abilities that they granted him so Keeler could probably thrash him. "Jake, I-I think I'll be going."

He turned and looked at Trixie, he remembered how enraged she made his wife, and frankly he didn't want to explore that avenue any further. But he knew better than to deny her something that she demanded, so he would have to do whatever he had to do to keep Trixie there. "Uh, I don't think so, you know that she wants you to stay here, and I know you think that she's gonna kill you but trust me I won't be letting that happen, but please, stay here with me."

"She's on her way right now," Trixie continued. "Rose can be here for you while you take care of your sister."

Shaking his head vehemently, he grasped her tightly by the shoulder and led her back to sit on the couch and then he just stood there and looked at her. "So what did she say to you? You know if you ever told me that you loved me."

"Oh the typical," Trixie said seriously. "She told me that if I have got in the way of her when it came to you than she would kill me and then my mother, and let's just say that I got the point and backed off, especially after the first kid."

Jake remembered how they just dropped contact with each other when Rose was pregnant with Alyssa, and whatever she had said must have been the cause of that. Or another theory and this was the more likely one in Jake's opinion, Trixie just couldn't handle the fact that Rose had his child and she just stopped talking to him all together. Whatever it was it sort of bolstered his ego, despite the situation that he was in with his wife and former best friend, these two very attractive women had been fighting over him. "Y-You should have told me, I mean I can't say that I would have broken it off with Rose, but I think I had a right to know, and by the way it doesn't surprise me that she threatened you and your mom, last year we were at the supermarket, and the cashier lady was looking at me, she sent death glares at her and I swear if they had been alone together than she would have beaten the hell out of her."

"I've said it many times, and I'll say it again, she's a crazy woman." Trixie said with a snort.

Jake couldn't argue, but it wasn't like Rose went out and killed puppies or something, she was just naturally like that, it was the way she was raised, getting her way by threats of violence. But he loved her, he couldn't deny that he loved everything about her, she was perhaps the most loyal and caring person that you could ever meet, and if you fucked with anyone that she cared about than she would make that person pay, but there was the Mr. Hyde part of her personality too which was oblivious. Rose had lived a strange life, and she had suffered much heartbreak in her life most of which had come from him but that was behind them now. And now he that he knew that she was playing with him, could he swallow his pride and forgive her? Just the situation was cruel but Rose had made it crueler by making him believe it. If he was going to even think about forgiving her than he would have to think about it heavily.

"She's not crazy Trix, she's just …misunderstood." Jake corrected absently.

* * *

They had made the transfer, Johnny would go with Erin, Jackie and Mark to the hospital and Alyssa and Rose would return to the apartment. Alyssa would leave after she talked with her parents and then go back to the hospital to be with her Husband, she just wanted to know more about what was going on. And if her mother was correct about her father's friend Trixie, than she would want her piece of the skank. But she couldn't help but worry about her mother, she had been put under a lot of stress today and she was pregnant, that couldn't have been good for her, she couldn't wait for all of this to be over so she could put her mother into bed so she could get some rest. "What are gonna do?"

"What the hell do you mean? I'm gonna string up by her hair and hang her from the balcony," Rose seethed, and she could swear that she was so mad she was seeing red. "Goddamn, I miscalculated I had no idea that he would have invited her into my house, I am so mad that I can't see straight, how could Jake bring _her_ into our lives again."

Alyssa was confident that her parents would make up, she had to be or else she was going to break down and feel the emotions that a child of divorce normally would. "Look at it this way, when you get there you can drive the point home that she is not be there, and I'll help you, she probably hates me anyway, I'm the reason she couldn't get daddy."

"I told her that if she didn't back off that I'd kill her mother," Rose said absently. "That's why she hates me."

While she wasn't surprised by that statement, it still seemed on a level of cruelty that even her mother couldn't make it too. But she did, and Alyssa was stunned for a moment, and by the look on her mother's face it wasn't best to lecture her on her ways right now. "Well then I'm not surprised that she hates you Mom that was a low blow."

"It was," Rose nodded. "But it got my point across."

"Yeah well maybe you could do it in a more humane manner today." Alyssa said with a bit of a scoff at the idea.

"Sure I could, I could shot her in the head and be done with it." She replied with a sneer.

She couldn't help herself, she began to laugh.**

* * *

****AN:/ Dun-Dun-Duuuu…Okay it was sort of anti-climatic but it came out how I want it to be. The next chapter will be purely dominated by a good ole' bitch fight. Hope you liked it and I really do hope that you'll leave me a review. **


	38. Jealousy

**Chapter 38 **

**Jealousy**

God she felt like crap, it had been one hell of a night for Haley Long and somehow she felt that it was only going to get worse. First Rose, she had beaten the holy hell out of her and left her writhing in pain, then to top it off she had to have her Dragon Powers removed in the most painful of ways. In her life she had never experienced something so painful, it was as if a part of her had been ripped away and it left a space, a gap in her that couldn't be filled by anything. And it seemed that the only solution was to get them back but her only problem was that she didn't have the faintest idea to do that. Lying down in her brother's bed she pressed the ice pack to her head and let the feeling of cold try to sooth her pain, but it was to no avail. Alcohol didn't help, Aspirin didn't help and ice didn't help, so what the hell was she going to do about all of this. To make it worse, her son was going to think that she was insane, and that she had gone off on some bender and gotten the crap kicked out of her. Her original plan was going wrong, and now it seemed that the Dark Dragon had the upper hand on her family. And that made Haley wonder why her family was always stuck with the chore of fighting the Dark Dragon, why did they have to carry the burden of saving the world?

Maybe it was because of her Grandfather? He up until the point of her brother becoming the American Dragon had been the only one to fight the Dark Dragon and live, and then when it came to her brother the situation became even more diluted. With his exploits in the Magical World, the Long family had become perhaps the most famous name in the world and everybody, from leprechauns to trolls would be watching them to see what they'd do about the Dark Dragon. They would be watching Jake in particular. And it wasn't as if he was a teenager where his once concern was if the hot girl in chemistry wanted to go to the dance with him or something. He had children, he had wife, hell he had grandchildren now, he had so many concerns, so many that the well being of the Magical World just took the back seat. As it should have been anyway, they should have learned to take care of themselves and stopped depending on the Dragon's to clean up the mess, but they didn't and it had literally ripped her family apart. Now their families greatest enemy had returned, and he was going to rip the shreds of what was left of the Longs into bite sized little pieces.

Sometimes she just wished she was human, and that she had a normal human family. At one time she had actually made that choice, and she had ended up spending twenty years of her life in China, the place where she had built her life, it was an attempt to forget about everything the Magical World had done to her and her family. But she should have known that once you were a part of the Magical World, you never left it and it was a foolish notion to believe that you'd ever be able to get away from it, in that world, Family Names and Blood kept you tethered to it, and she unfortunately belonged to the Magical World's most known family. And there would be no escape from _that_ whatsoever.

Then there was Luong, her only child, and that at the moment was a complicated relationship. She knew that he was skeptical about this he didn't doubt that the Magical World existed, but he doubted that it was a place that he wanted to be. And that had caused her to lost contact with him, once again something that she could blame on Magic and the Dragons. That had changed tonight, in her need to get him to safety from the paws of the Dark Dragon she had brought him closer to her, and then she considered that maybe being a Long and the prime target for most of the evil things in the magical world wasn't so bad, it had brought her son back to her. But that all rested on the edge of a very small knife.

"Hey Sis," Jake asked walking into the bedroom. "How are you feeling?"

Haley rose up slightly. "Like shit on a bun, but I assumed you knew."

"I know the feeling, trust me on this one I've been hit and beaten up so many times that I usually just end up powering through it." He smiled.

Her sinuses were backed up slightly, and the way she spoke demonstrated that clearly. "But I never was under all of the pressure that you where, you were the American Dragon the star of the Magical World, I was your sister, the backup in case you screwed up one day and got yourself killed."

"You sound jealous of me." Jake pointed out with a hint of amusement.

His little sister shook her head vehemently. "Oh no I certainly was never jealous of what you did as the American Dragon, maybe a little bit from all of the attention that Mom and Grandpa gave you, but nothing else made me that way, I know was I was never once jealous of your duties."

Laughing Jake slapped his knees gently. "So between having to battle Hunters, Monsters and Shadow Demons, you were jealous of the attention that they gave me? Come on Haley, they were just trying to keep me from killing myself, I was a teenage boy, I wanted to sit around and Ogle girls all day, I wanted _no_ responsibilities, yet I got them all dumped on me at once, so if anybody should be jealous, I should be jealous of you."

"Me?" Her eyes widened with slightly amused shock.

"Yes, you didn't have to be the American Dragon, you got to be the normal kid," Jake explained as if he was lecturing her. "I wanted that, hell I wanted everything in my life to be normal but nothing ever was, my own wife is the crowning jewel to how weird my life is, I never let it bother me like it did you though, if I had handled it like that I don't know how I-…"

"You would have handled it like I did, run away and build a life far away from it all, but like me it would have caught up with you." She finished.

Jake shook his head. "Not necessarily, I would have gone to Canada."

Narrowing her eyes, she stuck her tongue out at Jake. "Ha ha, funny."

**In route to the Long Family Apartment, Brooklyn Bridge, in the Vehicle of Rose and Jake Long.**

"Ok," Alyssa spoke into her phone. "So I'm gonna go with my mom to check out what's going down with my dad, and I'll meet you over there when I'm through."

Rose hadn't said anything sense the end of her little tantrum on the New Jersey Turnpike, and even when Alyssa tried to turn on a conversation she'd ignore her and keep driving. She didn't want to talk she wanted to think about what she was going to next, she wanted to find out her miscalculation and correct it, and her obvious miscalculation was telling Jake that she wanted a divorce. If she hadn't than Trixie would never have come back into their lives and she would have been free to make it up to her husband, she just knew that Jake was sitting there listening to a bunch of crap that made her sound like the bad one through and through, and while she was willing to admit that she had acted poorly in her jealously, she wasn't the bad one. "Mom, Erin and Jackie are taking Johnny to Bellevue, I'm gonna head over there once we get this matter settled, so what are you gonna do after this happens."

"Your father and I are gonna go into the old Huntslair and get the things we need." Rose said flatly, and she hopped that Alyssa would get the point not to respond to that.

But she was persistent. "You _and_ Daddy, hell that'll be awkward."

"Tell me about it," Rose remarked with a bit of a smirk. "He kind of gave me no choice, you know me being pregnant and all, and hey, we might be able to reconnect."

"You'll be marching all around the sewer, a place to reconnect? Really?" Alyssa asked skeptically.

"Alyssa, me and your dad have tried to kill each other many times," Rose said with a smile. "We don't exactly have the most normal life, so I doubt a sewer would change things."

"Touché." Alyssa said happy that her mother had opened up for a time.

**Isle of Draco**

This was bad, this was very bad and she needed to get off of the island as quickly as possible. She knew the Isle like the back of her hand and she knew the movements of the guards, but she didn't know if they had changed at all. Being the only Dragon Councilor left alive, she was the last chance to let the Long's know of what happened so that they could stay away from the Isle until the time was right. Even if the Dark Dragon was defeated, it would be a long time before the Dragon State recovered, there was so much that would need to be rebuilt. The Council itself would have to be rebuilt.

And there would be the matter of the Pro Tempore to deal with.

Nebroshka didn't know if he had been coerced or if he had willing done the Dark Dragon's will, but either way he couldn't remain alive. He was a traitor none the less and he would be dealt with like all traitors were, with death.

Now to get to New York, to the last hope that they had left.

**Manhattan New York, Abandoned Huntslair Complex, Vault Level. **

She had to figure out how to extract the canister from the partial vacuum that it was in, she had been down here way to long and she didn't want the other to start getting worried about her. In the back of her mind she knew that they wouldn't give a damn about her, but still she needed to think that she had their unwavering loyalty. "Computer: open the vacuum plates on the chamber and begin a steady decrease in the vacuum level."

"Affirmative: Vacuum Level at 99.2 Percent," The computer stated flatly as the vacuum chamber began to hiss from decompression. "Warning: restrictions on this chamber have stated that once the vacuum chamber reaches 50 Percent then the Dragon Nerve Gas Toxin Canister will begin an evaporation protocol that will result in the termination of life for testers."

Rebecca furrowed her eyebrows. "What's the protocol for complete and safe extraction of the Canister?"

"Explanation: Full body decontamination suits, and a specialized robotic arm for extraction from the Vacuum, those items can be found in the Private Chamber of Huntsman Sindacco on the primary level," The computer explained from its preprogrammed safety protocols. "Secondary Warning: If extraction is attempted without those items it will result in death."

She scowled. "Shit."

**The Long Family Apartment, Manhattan New York**

Maybe it was a good thing that she had left everything out in the car, because the situation of having a large gun in her hand and Trixie in her line of sight would mean that she would probably end up putting a bullet in the other woman's head. So it was indeed a good thing that she took Alyssa's advice, otherwise she would have committed premeditated murder tonight.

With her daughter flanking her, she walked into the familiar hallway and stopped when she reached the door to the massive apartment. Directly opposite the door was a stand that had a potted plant inside of it, she nodded to Alyssa who picked up the pot and grabbed the silver key that was under it and gave it to her mother. Rose slipped into the door knob and took a deep breath in, she was going to have to be ready for this and it would be a great exhaustion on her health. But if it meant that she could save her marriage from this invasion from Trixie, than she would gladly take it. And the fetus inside her would just have to get over it.

Not wasting another moment, she looked back to Alyssa and sighed then she pushed the door to the apartment open and it flung back revealing a picture of her worst nightmare. "Well, it was as if someone had written down my worst nightmare and paid you two to act it out for me, what the hell is this?"

"Rose," Jake said looking away from Trixie. "I wasn't expecting you so fast."

Alyssa walked to her mother's left and crossed her arms together and the look in her eyes was a positively seething one. "And I wasn't expecting to walk in here and see you hugging this scum sucking bitch, now tell me Jake did I interrupt? Or should I go out in the hall and wait for twenty minutes?"

"Oh shut up Rose, I was hugging a friend," Jake narrowed his eyes with indignation. "So what's it gonna be Rose, is this where you throw the fit?"

"Your damn right I am Jake," Rose shouted and motioned to Alyssa. "Alyssa you need to go hold onto your father because I don't want him trying to help that bitch when I string her up by her goddamn hair."

Trixie who was standing next to Jake put her hands on her hips. "Are you sure? Do you think that you can get away with killing me so easily Rose?"

"FUCK YOU! AND YOU ARE DAMN RIGHT THAT I'LL KILL YOU BITCH!" Rose shouted as she marched forward and, in a display of her intentions towards the other woman, grabbed a fist full of her black locks and tugged on them.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Alyssa hold her father back so far successfully, so she would need to make her point to Trixie fast and quick and she knew exactly what to do.

* * *

AN: I know that I said that the fight would happen in this chapter, instead I'm planning it at the beginning and most of the next chapter and it will end with Rose and Jake going into the Huntslair and maybe someone else will come with them (I'm not saying who.) I'm sorry if you were looking forward to it in this chapter but I'm afraid you'll have to wait for it in the next one.

Please leave a review if you would be so kind to me


	39. Really?

**Chapter 39**

**Really? **

Alyssa was very strong for a nineteen year old girl, especially considering the fact that she was holding back a much larger and older man. He had to stop this from going on, he had to stop his wife from killing his best friend and that wouldn't be easy. For the moment he had to watch as Rose dragged Trixie out to the balcony by her hair and then he almost passed out when she held the other woman's face over the balcony. He felt Alyssa stiffen behind him as they began to hear Rose's tirade of swears and threats.

**On the balcony…**

"Do you wanna' die tonight," Rose asked Trixie. "Because you made that choice by coming here, this is my home, that is my husband, he is the father of my kids and if we _are_ going to split up, I will make sure he doesn't go to you, but you know something Trixie? I don't want to leave him."

Rose could hear Trixie growl. "And this is the way to make him love you?"

"I don't think I have to make him, he already does but because of something stupid I said he's calling into question if_ I_ do or not," Rose seethed tightening her grip on the other woman's hair. "And make no mistake about it you bitch, I love him and there isn't a damn thing that could change that."

And then the woman who was once the Huntsgirl and who still was in many ways was taken back when Trixie brought her leg up and managed to kick Rose's legs out from under her. With a yelp of surprise, Rose's eyes bugged out when she began to fall face first on the concrete floor of the balcony and by extension putting her child at risk, but with her usual quick reflexes, she stopped herself by putting her hands out in front of her and catching herself in the push up position. Then with a grunt she leaped up and with her left leg kicked at Trixie's abdomen who in turn hit the picture glass window of the apartment. Rose wondered for a moment why Trixie hadn't fell through the glass from the force of that kick, but she remembered a few months after they had moved in here she had it replaced with bullet proof glass.

Taking the moment to tie her lose flowing hair back into a weak ponytail, she quickly moved on Trixie and decked her over her right eye which caused her to fly back and hit the back of her head on the window again. "Oh thank you so much for taking me off guard, this is more fun than showing mercy."

"Come on, do your worst." Trixie breathed trying to shake her head clear.

Rose smiled menacingly. "No, I'll do my best, as usual."

And with those words, Rose took a running swipe at Trixie, who ducked and developed a stinging slap at Rose's face. The Huntsgirl recoiled for less than a half a second and the swipe that she wanted to deliver was hastily and successfully delivered. She was better than Rose thought, maybe when this was all over she'd want to know how the bitch had gotten so good and fighting. But that's when her ego which was as big as the moon kicked in, the other woman shouldn't have been so good, she was the Huntsgirl, she was the best and some lowly normal person shouldn't have been able to deal the punches that she did. "Your good, but you wanna know something, I'm _better_"

The roundhouse kick that Rose delivered would have been successful if Trixie hadn't leaped up and missed the impact of her feet. "I spent years learning how to fight like you did, I trained with all kinds of martial arts instructs and street fighters, and you know what I think I'm good enough to kick your ass."

"Come and get it honey." Rose smirked.

**Thirteen Minutes Later... **

Haley almost stumbled out of the bedroom, she was thirsty and she had been calling Jake to get her some water for some time now. So she resigned herself to get up and get some, but imagine her surprised when she walked into the living room and found Trixie locked up in a strangle hold with Rose. Somehow Haley knew that this was coming and she wasn't surprised about how her sister in-law reacted, but that still didn't help the fact that they were making all kinds of noise and the only thing that she was thinking about was her younger niece and nephews who were sleeping feet away. What would DJ –DJ was his name right?- think of seeing his mother attacking another woman in the middle of the night. "HEY! You two need to stop this, or you're gonna wake those kids up in there."

"Not until she leaves my fucking life!" Rose hissed in a hushed voice as she took in Haley's point.

Trixie couldn't even respond, she was in fact struggling to breath and now she was turning blue. The applier of that choke hold noticed this and she loosened her hold, not because of any guilt she was feeling in hurting the woman, she wanted to fight the woman more and she couldn't do that if she was knocked out. "You want anymore of me?"

"Y-You're lo-sing your touch you crazy bitch." Trixie choked out.

Rose bared her teeth, and marched off into the kitchen, though she was obstructed from view, Jake, Alyssa, Haley and Trixie could hear her opening a door, and then a large slam. And they all gasped when she returned with a large 12-Gauge shotgun in her hand, and as if she had lost her mind, she cocked it and as the shell fell out of the barrel, she aimed it at the other woman with murder in her eyes and thoughts. "Have I? You know Trixie you've always called me crazy, and you know you really have made me that way? So what do you say, do I blow your head off? Or do you leave?"

Trixie put her hands up and she began to back away from the disgruntled woman. "Ok, Ok, I'm going and I'll never bother you again just drop it."

Her emotions were running high, she didn't know if she should cry or break out into another fit. Slowly, but ever cautiously she lowered the gun, and she knew in that moment that she had gone over the deep end when it came to handling her anger. And as she dropped to her knees, she saw Trixie leave the living room area, and more painfully, followed by her husband. With that, she began to cry, and then she began to bawl.

**Near the Door...**

"I am so sorry that she did that," Jake explained, as he was still in shock over what Rose had pulled. "I would never take her the type of doing that."

Trixie looked at him skeptically, her body was still slightly shaking over the abuse and fear that Rose had put it through. "I doubt that Jake, just promise me something? Tell me you love her and you'll never hear from me again."

Of course he loved Rose? But what excuse was there for someone to act as she did. Perhaps that was the way she was raised, to handle stress and jealousy with violence, and that was something that Jake didn't like. But hadn't he always seen that from Rose? Why was it bothering him now exactly? All of those were questions that he intended on being answered by the subject in question. "Yeah, yeah I guess that I do love her."

"Good then," Trixie winked. "And don't worry about the bumps, I'll be fine."

Jake reached over and squeezed her shoulder. "Alright, see you around."

"No you won't, oh and by the way, I wouldn't keep a shot gun in the reach of small kids." Trixie suggested with a slight smile, a bruise was now forming on her lower lip. It was a very noticeable and large bruise.

"Oh I'll have a talk with her about that." Jake raised his eyebrows.

**Back in the Living Room...**

It felt weird to coddle Rose, but Haley was never the person to leave someone who was close to her crying and yes she did now consider Rose close to her even if that woman had beaten the hell out of her. Alyssa was on Rose's other side and her face was buried her shoulder, her sobs were now racking her body uncontrollably. They had an idea of what had caused her to break down like this, but with a person like Rose, they could never be sure. The two women who were holding the hysterical one looked at the entrance of the Living Room and saw Jake standing there.

Jake looked at his wife's convulsing body, and his eyes softened from the steel that he had walked into room with. As he gathered his thoughts, he made a motion to his sister and daughter and they detached themselves from Rose. To Rose, the feeling of losing the four arms that were trying to comforting her was painful. And she kept her eyes shut, not wanting to look at what she had done here in her anger. But then she gasped and sighed when she felt _his _arms tie themselves around her, and then she felt completely safe, warm and loved. The way Jake had always made her feel for most of her life, even when she wasn't around him.

"J-Jake?" She choked out with her eyes still closed shut.

He didn't answer, and just as she was going to open her mouth to say his name again, his lips descended upon hers and silenced her with a kiss.

**AN:/ I just had to get this out, I want to know what you think of how this chapter went and how I managed to make Rose and Jake make up with each other. You'll find out in the next chapter why Rose broke and did what she did and proceeded to cry about it. In the next chapter that'll be the main focus, we'll also come in on Jackie, Erin, Mark, Johnny and Alyssa at the hospital. And let's not forget the next main action storyline, the Huntslair, and I might remind you that Rose and Jake won't be going in alone. I want you to try and guess of who will be going with them. **

**Leave me a review, I'll be bummed if you don't do it. **

**PWEESE? **


	40. Bite Me Dragon Boy

**Chapter 40**

**Bite Me Dragon Boy**

He was okay, the doctors had told her that the bullet hadn't shattered his arm but it was severely broken and it would need to be in a cast for several weeks if not months and Johnny might have required physical therapy. But Erin would be there with him every step of the way, she was going to be the mother that he never had, sure she would have to downgrade it seeing as her eldest son was married and had two children, but she would still mommy him every chance that she got. The X-Rays, and the process of setting the boy's arm had taken no less than a half an hour combined but she really should've expected a large wait at this time at night, even in a city as large as New York. "Mrs. Harrison, there is the manner of how you're going to pay this bill."

"Do you have an estimate of the bill?" Erin asked running her hand through her hair.

The doctor who looked like he had just gotten out of med school looked down at his feet for a moment and then with a heavy sigh looked back up at her. "Well this is without insurance, The X-Ray's alone will cost thousands, the cast add another thousand, and the physical therapy-"

"Just cut the crap junior," Erin snapped. "It has been one hell of a day and I don't need this."

As old as the Doctor felt that he was, he was still young and the look on his face was that of a teenager being lectured by his mother. "I would say a minimum of ten thousand dollars."

Erin almost fainted, she didn't have the money to pay for that and her son wasn't on her Health Care plan, so she would have to wait for Alyssa, they had the money to do this and as far as a Health Plan went, Erin was sure that they had one. "My Daughter in-law should be here any minute, you can handle the details with her I just wanted to make sure that he's alright."

"Your son will be fine Mrs. Harrison," He smiled faintly. "He'll make a full recovery, oh and by the way, I was curious of how your son broke his arms so badly, what did happen?"

Erin's green eyes flashed, she would have to cover her ass. "He fell down my stairs, he and his wife where fighting and he was staying with me, I just called her, and she'll be here soon."

**X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X **

Rose felt like she had never been on the receiving end of a more passionate kiss, and if she had her choice she would have wanted to stay in if of her natural life. When she opened her eyes they were watering slightly and she gasped lightly when he reached up and brushed the tears away from her cheeks and her face reddened when he fixed her with a playful grin, it amazed her that he was able to be this way around her after all that had happened in the past few hours. She noticed out of the corner of her eye that Haley and Alyssa had disappeared and it was now her and Jake sitting alone on the floor. Rose, being Rose, was tired of being the one babied, so while taking a moment to collect her raging thoughts and breath, she leaped up on him and knocked him down eliciting a playful laugh from the man. "You know if we ever get that close to breaking up, you have permission to do whatever you need to do to stop it."

"I'll take that in mind baby," Jake smiled practically burying his nose in his wife's hair and taking a large whiff of her natural aroma. "By the way, take the damn shotgun out of the kitchen."

Bringing her chin up to rest on his chest, she fixed him with a playful grin. "Sorry, I just kept it in there in case someone decided to come in uninvited, you know like-"

"Trixie?" Jake supplied, his eyebrows rising to meet together.

Rose nodded. "Well I suppose you invited her, but you know I'd like to think that you didn't, I'm sorry I reacted the way I did you know it's just been one of my worst nightmares to find you and her together, you know I've never told you this, but when I was LA, I kept having this recurring nightmare that you and her had gotten together and that she was raising Alyssa, you had no idea how many hours of sleep I lost because of it, and that's one of the main reasons I became a Senior Detective, I took on most of the nightshift to get away from those nightmares."

"Really? So that explains why you sort of went off your rocker with her." He sated with an expression, which simultaneously consisted of surprise, sympathy, amusement and protectiveness.

She laughed lightly reaching up and putting a free strain of hair that had fallen from her ponytail behind her ear. "I suppose so, it's not normal for me to put a shot gun in someone's face"

"That's right," He laughed jovially. "It's usually a handgun."

Narrowing her eyes playfully, she lightly slapped him on the chest. "That's true, but I'm trying to have a heart to heart moment with you honey."

But before he could respond, a wailing cry sounded from the direction of the hall and they both knew that cry very well. Either Michael or Daemon where up, and as out of habit, Rose pushed herself up off of her husband and she was on back on her feet. The she was surprised when Jake followed her movement and he was soon back on his feet, he winked at her and put a hand on the curve of her waist. "You know, I think I'm gonna help you with dealing with those crying little turds from now on."

"Bout' time," Rose mused as they made their way to the hall. "You didn't do that with DJ or Rachel, so I suppose you can make up with these two and this next one, and by the way, you do realize that you just called your two youngest sons annoying little turds, I should have had that on tape so I can have them hear it when their older and they'll be a couple of Mama's Boys."

He smiled down at her and his arm tightened somewhat protectively on her waist. "I have a serious feeling that they'll all fawn over you, and they'll think I'm the beast from hell, that's the funny thing about our children, they're either going to be daddy's little girls, or regular mama's boys, it seems dear Huntsgirl that our polarizing, crazy tendencies have rubbed off on all of our kids."

"Bite me Dragon Boy." Rose teased with a mischievous wink.

"Don't mind if I do," He raised his eyebrows up and down in some mocking attempt at seduction. "But we'll have to wait for tomorrow."

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**Bellevue Hospital, Manhattan New York **

When Alyssa had left her parents, she was so happy that she could barely contain it. But as soon as she saw her husband sitting on that hospital bed all of those good feelings were done away with and her only concern was for Johnny at the moment. She was surprised to find that her mother in-law, father in-law and grandmother in-law weren't in the room and it almost made her angry to think that they weren't at his bedside at all times, but those feelings were quelled when Jackie walked into the room with a steaming cup of what looked like coffee in her hand. The older woman fixed her with a friendly smile and sat down at the chair on the other side of her Grandson's bed. "I take it things went well with your parents?"

"Yeah," Alyssa nodded with a bright smile. "Mom pointed a shot gun at my dad's friend and naturally like any sane person that ran for the hills, but I think they've made up."

Jackie laughed and Alyssa had to admit the other woman's laugh was an oddly bright one for someone who was a doubtless question mark. "I would have done the same thing."

"And they're gonna go and get the Nerve Gas pretty soon," Alyssa glanced at Johnny who was sleeping peacefully, and she found that she couldn't look away. "I would have gone with them but you know now things are different, Johnny's my husband and the father of my kids, so I kind of need to be here with him and I want to be the first one he sees when he wakes up."

"You're gonna have to fight with his mother about that, she's hell bent on seeing him wake up," Jackie raised an eyebrow. "And if you two break out in a fight, I think she can take you down."

Alyssa put her hands on her hips and scoffed. "Oh please, even if she could whip my ass you saw what my mom did to my Aunt when she only slapped me."

"You have a point," The older woman choked down a laugh. "So do you think that they'll need any help when they go wherever they're going?"

"Who, my parents?" Alyssa asked taking the seat opposite of Jackie.

Jackie nodded and took another sip of her drink.

"I would think so, my dad's lost his Dragon powers, my Aunt has and so have I," Alyssa shrugged. "And my mom is pregnant, so I would think that they need all the help that they can get."

For a moment Alyssa could see a pondering expression on her Grandmother in-law's face, and then her thoughts were confirmed when the older woman stood up and set the cup of coffee on the side table of the bed and fixed her gray and black long flowing hair back into a pony tail. "Alyssa, would you be mad if I left you and Johnny to go help your mom and dad?"

"No," Alyssa smirked with a shake of her head. "In fact I'd feel better if they had someone to help them."

The woman who would have been the Huntsmaster winked at the girl and grabbed her rather large bag, in fact it looked more like a duffle bag instead of a purse. "Where's the location?"

"The old Huntslair here in town, I think the entrance was-…" Alyssa was cut off when the other woman raised a hand.

"I know where it's located," Jackie winked with a smile. "I'll see you later kid, tell the others where I went, and Johnny …tell him that his Grandma loves him."

Alyssa smiled. "Will do, good luck."

**X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X **

**Subway Line E Entrance, Greenwich Village, Manhattan New York. **

"I've never been so freaked out walking on the streets at night," Rose said as they walked down the stairs of the entrance of the subway station. "Thank god we've brought enough guns."

Jake laughed to himself and he lugged the large backpack over his shoulder that Rose had ordered him to bring, but of course she was carrying the larger duffle bag that had her larger weapons and tools in it, so if anything he got the easy load and she got the heavy load. Goodness she was amazing, she was pregnant and probably dead tired but she still took it upon herself to do the larger work. And he didn't want to think that she pitied him, but it was probably because he had lost maybe a quarter of his strength from the loss of his Dragon Powers, but he was still stronger than the average man. "You know one of these days, I'm going to get my powers back and I'm gonna prove that I'm stronger than you are, you gorgeous, crazy pregnant lady."

"Baby, you're only stronger than me when you're a dragon," She smiled at him mockingly. "But I can pretty much kick your ass up and down the street when you're just a man."

"Keep telling yourself that Rose." Jake responded dryly.

As she laughed, the crossed the bend into the station, and when they spied one of the two entrances to the old Huntslair complex, a service door, the other being on the subway track itself, which wasn't used that often, they froze. Jackie Hutchinson stood there with a bag at her feet, she was leaning up lazily against the wall that was right next to the door and she wore an amused smirk on her face. "It's about damn time, I was just about to go down there and find this Nerve Gas myself, but you made it just in time, so if where gonna do this thing, let's just get it over with."

"Ok," Rose laughed with incredulity over the fact that she was even here. "We live five blocks away, and you were at Bellevue which is kind of a long walk."

"I have my ways," Jackie shrugged. "I see you brought some toys to play with."

She nodded and turned to her husband. "Let's establish that my formerly Dragon Husband is now the weakest link in our little team, and he can't shoot for shit, so we'll have to back him up."

"Hey! I can shoot adequately." Jake defended himself ignoring the amused look on the other woman's face.

Reaching over, she put her hand on his shoulder and squeezed it. "I know, you're probably just tired or unsure of your manhood or you probably have a headache, it happens to all men."

Before Jake could retort with a combination of fairly creative words, Jackie began to laugh and she bent down and picked up her bag. "Ok you two, enough of the stupid sex jokes, we need to get down there before anyone comes in here, so, which way do you want to take, the track entrance of this service door?"

"The service door," She told the other woman. "I'm not in the mood to be pan caked by the five o'clock rush."

**X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X**

**AN:/ Here is this update, it was a spur of the moment thing because I had come to the decision that I'd only update on weekends, so I'd suppose that you should thank me for giving you this two chapter weekday treat. What will happen to Jackie, Jake and Rose down in the Huntslair with the forgotten Hunters? How will they react? And how will Rebecca react? And what will happen when Alyssa and Erin clash over who will get to take care of Johnny? Think about these things, they're helpful. **

**Leave a review for me! I'm begging you! **

**PWEESE? **


	41. Arrogance

**Chapter 41 **

**Arrogance**

It had been decades since she had last set foot in here and when she was here for the very last time she commanded the respect of every single Hunter in the entire clan, and a little known fact was that the Huntsman himself respected her above everyone else. It still had the same feel, look and smell that it had albeit the place had become decrepit and spider webs had begun to dominate the place, but otherwise it was still the same old Huntslair that she remembered and as she took a look over at Rose, the same look that she had to have on her face was on the younger woman's. The other two in her party, Rose and Jake had drawn some sort of weapon, Rose held a large Beretta and Jake held a 12. Gauge Shotgun and she had gone with most simple approach a .50 Desert Eagle. It seemed highly unlikely that they would have to use the weapons, but it was nice to be safe in such dangerous place, even though it had been abandoned for the past three years.

"Jackie I had only been to the Vault Level once and it's been a very long time," Rose asked bringing another gun into her other hand, now that she was armed with two weapons she felt one hundred percent safer. "And I'm not so stupid enough to know that you might have been the Huntsmaster at one time, and I know that you remember every feet of this place, so where's the entrance?"

The older woman cocked her gun and she reached for the flashlight that was strapped to her belt. "There's two entrances, one through the Huntsmaster's Quarters, and another through the common level, I wouldn't recommend trying the entrance through the Huntsmaster's quarters, the generators run for decades at a time especially the ones that power that section and there's no telling what kind of booby traps that Paul put in that junction, so we need to get through the common level break down the door and make our way to the Vault Room, what vault did Dallas say it was in?"

"Six Hundred Thirty Nine," Rose answered as the slowly walked through the Entrance junction of the complex itself.

Jackie made an odd clucking sound, and then she shone her flashlight on a large metal door. "Alrighty, there's one entrance into the common room so what do you say we do a little handy work?"

"Polycarbonate hinges on the door," Rose said raising an eyebrow and then turning back to Jake. "What do you think will knock the door down-…?"

She stopped in mid sentence, behind Rose could make out a figure holding a staff, she could see that he was doing his best to conceal himself but he was poor at it and it was quite oblivious that he was a man by the shape of his body alone. But the staff, it could only be a Huntstaff and that confused her to a degree, but she had to push past that and protect her husband, he was the weakest in the group currently and that man could easily take him out if Jake wasn't prepared. She instantly brought up her hand and aimed her gun at the figure, Jackie copied her maneuver and while aiming the gun, she also waved the flashlight on him. It took Jake a second to catch on and then he spun around and cocked the shotgun, and he knew just as well as Jackie and Rose did that he'd be safer between the two strongest Hunters that the Huntsclan had ever seen. "Alright buddy," Rose hissed narrowing her eyes at the young kid. "Drop the Staff and kick to me."

"Alright, Alright, I give up you people seem too much for me." Hunter Daniel Mills said dropping his staff and kicking it towards the trio.

"Damn right," Rose snarled and cocked the gun as to saying non-verbally that '_if you move, I'll kill you_' and the boy got it. "So the question is what are you doing with a staff like _that_?"

The boy who looked to be barely twenty shrugged. "It's a Huntstaff, I think you know that by the way you were talking, now my question is who the hell are you three?"

"Don't talk to your elders like that boy," Jackie said flatly but still very menacingly. "You have no idea who we are."

"So why don't you enlightenment me?" Daniel responded with a reasonably snide undertone in his voice.

"Oh honey, you don't want to know because I'm sure you first instinct would be to kill us," Rose mused airily as if the entire situation had absolutely no importance. "Then that would of course lead to you own death because I'm pretty sure even without the weapons any of us could kill you, especially me and her, so what's your name kid and what caste of Hunter are you?"

Daniel's eyebrows rose, the woman knew more than she let on. "Daniel Mills, officially I'm an Apprentice, un-officially I'm the co-leader of our little group."

"_Your little group_ as in more Hunters like yourself?" Jake's ears perked up in curiosity.

"You heard what he said Jake, he's an apprentice, they aren't officially Hunters, first they've got to be sponsored by a master and then they've got to take their initiate exams, then they have to spend five to six years learning rigid protocol," Rose said sharing a puzzled glance with Jackie, who's mind at the time was racing. "I'd say this kid hasn't taken his initiates, he's horrible at knowing his environment, he stuck out like a sore thumb, and he let his prey get this close into the thing he was clearly trying to protect, he's horrible at this, but I'd say he's got some potential."

Jackie nodded her head. "Don't even get me started on his weapon, one shot at the head of that staff and it would have exploded right in his face, very outdated."

"And what makes you so high and mighty to judge me?" Daniel demanded feeling outraged that his faults were being so easily dissected by these two women that he had never seen in his life.

"Oh trust me when I tell you that we know what where talking about." Rose said not wanting to bring to light the death mark that the Huntsclan had brought against her very name.

He still looked skeptical and he wasn't going to let this subject go so easily. "No I want to know, I'm the hostage and I want to know who's holding me hostage damnit!"

Rose slapped her hands at her sides. "Ok, the master who initiated me was my Uncle, but he just wasn't any master, he was the unquestioned master of the entire organization and I was his niece, he taught me everything I know and then some, this woman right here, her names Jackie Hutchinson, she could have become the first female Huntsmaster ever but she allowed my Uncle to have it and make no mistake about it kid, she allowed him to have it, and this man, he's my husband and the man who is perhaps responsible for the death of the Clan, that's who you're dealing with."

He was stunned, truly stunned, he knew who all three of them where, maybe the man not so much, but he definitively knew who the blond was and he knew very much who the old woman was and now he could understand why she was so hesitant in telling him who they were. The Huntsgirl had a death mark put on her head, and it was the duty of anyone bound to the Clan to kill her, Ms. Hutchinson was in exile and she was supposed to be given the cold shoulder, if it were anyone else it would have also been a death mark, but he could remember learning how out of respect it was simply Exile. And he had a pretty good notion that the man was a dragon even though the Huntsgirl hadn't said that word in her force tirade, and Daniel didn't know if he should charge the man or give him the benefit of the doubt. "Alright Daniel, we answered your question and now you'll answer ours, why are you here and who is this group that you keep talking about?"

That was Ms. Hutchinson speaking to him, she was a legend in many respects even though the policy was that you were supposed to forget about her completely. "Why do you care?"

"Because until about five minutes ago the only members of the Huntsclan that were known to be alive were these two behind me and another two," Jake clarified picking up on Jackie's lead of semi-interrogation. "Now you are going to tell me all about this little group of yours or I will tear that door off its hinges and go in there shooting, because I can only assume that they're all a threat."

Eyes flashing with shock, he shook his head vehemently. "No! You can't do that, most of the members of the group are little kids, and there's only a few in there my age."

"Little kids, you've let little kids live in a sewer?" Rose asked, she was shocked at that stupidity of this boy and his older companions that she had yet to meet.

"Hey it's not like the Dragon's left us much choice when they torched the academy! Only a dozen of us a made it out of there, a few of my friends and my girlfriend, and we had to try and get some of the infants from the nursery and some of the smaller kids out," Daniel shrugged knowing that he didn't do anything wrong when it came it that. "What did you want me to do? Leave them to die?"

"No," Rose shook her head. "You could have given them a normal life and not have stuck them in some abandoned base."

"The Dragons were coming after us and this is the only place that they never were able to get to us to." He responded not changing his view on how he and the others had gotten there.

Jackie just looked at him, it was as if she could read his thoughts and soul and somehow everyone else could feel it. "And I take it you're the only party who escaped the Academy?"

"Yeah," Daniel responded shaking his head. "We're the only ones that got out anyway, but that doesn't matter, we're the last band of hunters and your intruding on our base."

"Oh shut the hell up kid, you know nothing of what it means to be a Hunter, your just some kid who had to think he did to survive, I haven't worked in the Clan in twenty years and I'm still better than you are at it, I've had five kids and I know how to hide myself better," Rose drilled into the boy with mild amusement now in her eyes. "If anything you're the last apprentice Hunters."

"I wouldn't even go that far, in my opinion he isn't worthy to have the official title of apprentice." Jackie interjected with her arms folded across her chest.

The boy now looked positively seething at the beating of his confidence that he was now receiving from the two women and he didn't know why it was hurting so much, it either had to do with the fact that they were legends or the fact that they were complete strangers to him. If a member of the group had done it, he probably would have swore at them and told them to shut up and the whole thing would have been done with, but in this case he hadn't and he had just stood there and taken their insults at his abilities. "What's the matter kid? Did we hit a nerve?"

All of the self control that he was able to develop down there in the tattered remains of the Huntslair evaporated under the piercing blue eyes of the former Huntsgirl, and he knew that he was going to get his ass kicked or killed, but he didn't care, he wanted to somehow prove to them that they were wrong, he wasn't weak and he was a good _Hunter_ not _Apprentice_. He charged at Rose, and just as quickly as he had bolted for the woman, he felt his legs being kicked out from under him and the barrel of a large shotgun pressed to his forehead. That was the man, and the look on his face was just simply terrifying to Daniel. It wasn't long before Rose walked to his side with a smug smirk on her face. "That if for you? Now unless you want him to kill you I'd open the door."

**Belleville Medical Center, Manhattan New York **

He looked so innocent just sitting there on the bed, and as she was studying his face she wondered what would happen once he was out of here? How long would he be in the cast? How long would he have to concentrate on rehabilitating his arm? And would it be painful the entire time? Those were all questions that Alyssa wanted answers to. The room was deathly quiet besides the occasional beep of the machines and the sounds of his breathing. Where the hell was Erin and Mark? What could they possibly be doing at this moment that would take them away from his bedside? She intended on knowing exactly what was more important than this, and just as if they were on cue, Mark walked into Johnny's room followed by her mother in-law. "Hey, when did you get here?"

"About an hour ago," Alyssa answered with contempt in her voice. "What where you two doing?"

"Leaving a message with our kids," Erin said sensing the rise in the other woman's voice. "I told their friend's mother that we may be a little late in picking them up."

Alyssa nodded her head and understood why, and she knew that while Johnny was her child, they still had other children to take care of. "I understand, and by the way, Jackie left."

"And where did she go too exactly?" Erin questioned taking the seat that Jackie had occupied not so long before.

**AN:/ Hey! Things will begin to heat up on all fronts in the next chapter, Rose, Jackie and Jake will finally get their hands on the Nerve Gas as well as dealing with the entire band of last hunters, and Erin and Alyssa will blow up at each other just as Johnny will finally come around. And I just want to say something that came to my mind, has this story become dull in anyway? I mean I'm getting a little tired of it but that comes natural when I'm so excited to start the next one, but has that meant that I've sort of made this dull? Can you give me some input so I can possibly correct this?**


	42. Rebecca Kay meet Rose Long

**Chapter 42 **

**Rebecca Kay meet Rose Long …The Huntsgirl…**

One of the primary things that she had learned was that if someone wasn't compliant with you, then you hold a gun to that persons head and make sure that they do it. And that theory that her Uncle had taught her served her well once again as the boy whose name was Daniel began to unlock the large door that blocked their way into the common room. This little group of hunters, it interested her and it made her go on her guard immediately, she hadn't had any contact with any other hunter in years unless you counted Paul, and if they did know the Death Mark that was set upon her by her Uncle and Paul then their first instinct would have been to kill her on the spot. But there was also the fact that this group was mostly made up of small children, and that the only mildly grown up people in the group were Daniel, Two of his other friends and this Rebecca Kay person, who much to Rose and Jackie's amusement called herself 'The last Huntsmaster' and in spite of herself she wanted to meet this Rebecca and show her how wrong she was, even though it diverged from the task at hand which was to get the Nerve Gas and get the hell out of there.

But she was a person who liked to show off, and she wanted to show this snotty little brat that she wasn't worth her rank as an apprentice and she shouldn't be calling herself the Huntsmaster, because if she was the Huntsmaster than she could give her a run for her money, but if she really didn't have the skills that the rank would entail than Rose was going to mop the floor with the little girl. It was so terribly amusing to her that the entire time that she, Jackie, Jake and Daniel made their way deeper into the common level, she wore the biggest smirk that she had ever worn in her entire life, but the more she thought about what Rebecca was calling herself, the more she began to wonder what Jackie was thinking. Even though her Uncle was the Huntsmaster, even though she had been raised to be his most powerful servant, Jackie had been too and she had been brought up that way by even more powerful beings than her Uncle. She at one time could have been the Huntsmaster and even if the members of the Clan didn't like to admit it, they all regarded her as still the most powerful operative. "Daniel, when do you think Rebecca will be back?"

The boy turned to her with a defeated look on his face. "No idea, she takes it upon herself to memorize the Sewer lines, and she likes to explore the lower levels of the old base."

Rose shared a glance with Jackie and Jake and then turned back to look at the young man. "Like …for instance the Vault Level?"

"Never seen it or heard of it," He responded raising a questioning eyebrow. "Is there some reason that you asked for it?"

Again she looked at the elder woman who gave her a sharp nod, while Jake simply shrugged not knowing if it was the right thing to do or if it would improve their chances of getting their hands on it faster. "Yeah, it's the whole reason we came down here in the first place, there's something in one of the Vaults that we need and your presence here is severally complicating that."

"Oh so wounded that you didn't come down here to see me and my friends," He mocked with a slight laugh. "I'm kidding, I'd be happy to show you the schematics from the base computer."

Rose put up her hand and stopped him they all stopped and seemed to circle the boy. "Oh we know this base from top to bottom, it's just the thing that were going for is kind of hard to extract."

"And Huntsgirl what could that be possibly?" He questioned putting his hands on his hips.

Jackie took charge, she was tired of evading the truth and she wasn't afraid to engage these children at all. "We're looking for a toxic nerve gas canister that is in Vault 639, and we are worried that you and your friends will take advantage of the Death Mark that she has on her head, and the fact that I've violated the terms of my exile, the punishment of course is death."

"I'm also worried that you'll try to kill me because I led the extermination of the Huntsclan." Jake interjected voicing his real concern.

The thought of that made Rose growl audibly at Daniel. "And if any of you try to harm him, I will personally shitcan all of you with my bare hands."

"I know when someone makes a point Huntsgirl, don't worry I'm not going to try and hurt him," He said nodding his head. "Or any of you, as if I could, and we're only just kids down here trying to preserve our way of life, we're not looking for a fight, at least I'm not and I can vouch for the kids, but as for Rebecca, Charlie and Jenna, I don't know how they're react."

Rose shook her head taking it what the boy said and she had never heard it put so eloquently. "Alright, but first I'd like to meet these kids."

"Come with me." Daniel nodded and they all began to walk deeper into the Common level.

**Bellevue Medical Center, Manhattan New York, in the Private Hospital Room of Johnny Sindacco**

Why did her mother have to run off and join them? It wasn't that she was upset that Jackie had left Johnny alone, but it was the fact that she wanted to be with them and get the Nerve Gas, she wanted one last rodeo so that she could play with her weapons. She didn't want to feel like an ordinary housewife, she wanted to feel like a Hutchinson again and that would entail what her mother had pulled. But she did have responsibilities, and the chief among them were her children and right now one of them was in the hospital with a severely shattered arm that was on the mend and she didn't care much about anything else because of that. Still the surge of jealousy filled her at the thought of her mother having all of the fun while she stayed here in the hospital. Already coming to terms with it for the most part, she found that she couldn't wipe the incredulous glare that she was shooting at Alyssa over what she had just told her. "And you let her walk out just like that?"

"Look, I have no strength, I can shoot a gun pretty good but when I'm up against some big things I'm not going to stand a chance without my powers," Alyssa defended herself crossing her legs and folding her arms across her chest. "Seriously, do you believe that I could have possibly stopped her of all people? It would be like telling my mother not to shot someone, she'll shot you to get you out of the way and then she'll go off and find the person that she wanted to kill, so tell me Erin, you and Mark left him alone in here and you didn't make sure that someone was here with him."

The older woman's temper wasn't something to be played with, but she was going to keep her cool as long as she possibly could. "I thought my mother would still be in here."

"Well she wasn't damnit," Alyssa snapped finally letting the anger that she had felt out at the person who it was possibly generated by. "And you are his mother for god sakes!"

That patience wasn't a good one but surprisingly it was able to hold up against the smartass attitude in the young woman that Erin swore was genetic on her mother's side. "You are aware that I do have other kids that I have to worry about, but I'm here aren't I? I checked him in here, I absolutely made sure that he was being taken care of and what were you doing in the time of all of that?"

"Making sure my parents wouldn't kill each other and scar my brothers and sister, but apparently you're so good and losing touch with your kids that if you and Mark fought I don't think that you'd even know or give a damn," She hissed with a deep scowl on her face. "I am his wife, I have been with him for years, you've been around him for several hours and you feel the right to baby him?"

"I think the fact that I pushed him out from inside me gives me a little leeway when it comes to how I can speak to him." Erin hissed. "And don't you dare blame me for something that his father wanted, because when I knew his father, he got what he wanted, and the only thing that he never got was me, but he broke me into leaving our son with him, I had no choice whatsoever."

She did not want to do this, and for that matter she didn't know that much about it, but from what her mother had told her of what had gone on she looked at Erin almost in the same light as she had looked at Paul, even though all Erin had done was abandon her son to the Huntsmaster. "I wasn't there, but from what I heard, you could have gotten out of that base with Johnny with you."

"Whoever told you that I could have made it past everything with a godamn baby with me was wrong." She persisted growing steadily angrier with the girl.

**The Abandoned Huntslair Complex, The Common Level, Manhattan New York**

To put it simply, Rose found the living conditions in the Common Level appalling, she found the twelve makeshift cots that they slept in, the fires that they used to cook their food which she wondered what could have possibly been. And what troubled her the most was the fact that all of these people, kids and teenagers alike looked like ghosts, they were deathly white, but no wonder, they hadn't seen the seen the sunlight in nearly three years. What could be done? She sure as hell wasn't going to take in eight children, she was about at her limits with six, but they all looked so destitute and she wanted to help them, and she wanted so desperately to kick the ass of whoever forced them into this lifestyle. "Why didn't all of you decide just to live above ground, you know in society?"

"Rebecca sort of forced us too," Daniel answered as they stood looking at the now sleeping group. "She told us that if we lived up in the city then the Dragons would find us and 'slaughter' us."

Rose looked at her Husband who was standing next to her, the moment that the kid had said that a flabbergasted look came across his face. "I wouldn't have allowed them to kill babies, no I wouldn't have allowed that if they were young enough then they would have been adopted out and they wouldn't have even remembered the clan, and I would have ordered the young kids to be put on surveillance but never killed, take it from me, I would have flogged some ass if I would have known that they had killed babies and young kids, what happened to the other babies and kids?"

"What the hell do you think happened…?" He let his words draw off to space out the silence.

He shook his head trying to deny the thought of the soldiers that he had personally ordered to attack the academy killing children. "N-No, the order was for anyone who would pose a threat."

"I can't believe that." Rose shut her eyes and held back the emotions of that.

"When we get back to the Isle, remind me to have a talk with some certain commanders," Jake told his wife with a serious death glare. "I'm …just going to kill them all…"

Rose growled and narrowed her eyes in the direction of the sleeping children. "Not if I beat you to them."

"Wake them up," Jackie ordered, she had been silent the entire time but it didn't take a rocket scientist to tell that she was positively seething. "I told you to wake them up!"

He didn't have to have any other warning from the legendary Huntress, he slowly began to walk towards the center the small circle that their cots formed and he hesitated to wake them up, they didn't get a lot of sleep especially the younger kids, but somehow he got the feeling that if he didn't wake them up then they were going to do it. Taking a deep breath in, he was about to clap loudly knowing that would wake them up instantly, but he was stopped by the sound of a door opening near the side wall of the square shaped room, he took a sharp look at the door and in the middle of it stood Rebecca. She wore a scowl on her face, and when she laid her eyes on Rose, Jake and Jackie they softened into confusion and then the hardened again in knowledge of who was in her midst.

"Well, well, well," She drawled absently, she was still in awe of that fact that _those_ two had come here, and the other part of her was on edge because she felt the almost un-natural feeling to kill them where they stood, as if she could do that though. "I don't believe we've had honor of being introduced, my name's Rebecca Kay and you can address me as the Huntsmaster."

Rose looked at Jackie who looked at Jake and they all began to smirk in utter amusement, it actually grew to a point where Rose was stifling a laugh by biting her lip, she swore that she was going draw blood. "I-I'm Rose Long, and you can address me as the woman who is going shove her foot so far up your ass if you don't stop saying that."

"Oh I know who you are Huntsgirl," Rebecca narrowed her eyes. "And I know who you are Huntress Hutchinson, wherever have you been hiding yourself all of these years?"

She instantly got a bad vibe from the girl, and she knew that she would have to be on her guard around her. "I was away before you were the gleam in a horny teenage boy's eye."

Rebecca chose to ignore that and she moved her attention to Jake, she plastered a pleasant smile on her face, but she knew that there was something that she wouldn't like about the man. But on the other hand he looked nice enough. "And you sir? What your name be, and why would you of all people be hanging around with these two?"

"I'm married to one of them," Jake said flatly trying to take in the girl. "Names Jake Long and I was the man who wiped out the Huntsclan, or at least I gave the order to."

She growled and cursed at herself inwardly for not bringing a weapon with her, of course there was something fishy about the man he was a godamn dragon! And he was more armed than she was at the moment, which meant that her time to strike wasn't right now, but she'd get him. Rose smiled threateningly. "Don't even think about it, if you even think about killing him than you better know that the last thing that you'll ever see is me snapping your neck, now let's be cordial, you're the scum sucking bitch that made these kids live down here in this skeleton of the old base?"

"I wouldn't call myself that, but yeah I sort of suggested it and they agreed." Rebecca shrugged and then a strange feeling came to her, and she didn't know how to interpret it.

Then she knew what it was, and she felt her instincts kick in.

Rose smiled, and she quickly unbuckled the holsters around her waist and once the belt holding the guns fell to the ground, she cracked her knuckles and began to approach the young woman with murder in her eyes. She was going to teach this girl a lesson that she would never forget, and maybe it would be the last lesson that she ever learned. "I hope I don't break my hands on your face."

**AN:/ I've been waiting a long time to do this and I'm excited that I'm able to bring this storyline to an end. I'm estimating that there will be perhaps five more chapters I'm not sure yet if I want to include the Epilogue in those five chapters or if I want to make it separate. So let's run through a few things, in the next chapter, Erin and Alyssa will actually come to blows and something unexpected will happen, Rose and Rebecca will practically kill each other, Daniel, Jake and Jackie will comfort the kids while Jenna and Charlie (The other two older 'last hunters') will take sides. And we begin to spin the tale of the battle with the Dark Dragon when the only surviving Dragon Councilor will show up and warn our hero's as to what has happened on the Isle of Draco. And I forgot to mention that something that happens in the next chapter will be the cornerstone for the plot in the next and final installment 'Anything and Everything 4: New Horizons.' **


	43. Please, Please don't say that to me

**Chapter 43**

**Please, Please don't say that to me**

Rose had to give the girl some degree of credit, the girl did know how to throw a punch, but that didn't matter much to her, all she had to worry about was protecting her stomach and that was about it. Wounds could be healed, broken bones could be set, but the baby that was growing in the region would always be on edge, it wasn't because she was in bad health, it was because she was always the one to get herself into fights. Left, Right, another left, another right, all were missed kicks at her mid section, and that frustrated her, she had to realize that this wasn't Trixie, or Haley, this was an actually member of the Huntsclan and she would have the same basic fighting principles that she had. It was as if her enemy knew every movement that she made, but then again she had more than enough training to get around her. Not only had she been trained to hunt by the Huntsmaster, but she had been trained in ways to confuse, distract and use other methods to weaken your opponent, and that's exactly what she intended on doing here now. As they fought hand to hand, she tried to move her weight from her left and right foot and as their momentum picked up, they found themselves the method had worked and she watched as Rebecca found herself dazed at the tactic. "Y-Your good Rebecca, I'll give you that, but are you really the last Huntsmaster?"

"Yes I am!" She shouted back as their leaps and grunts became somewhat louder as their fight intensified.

Suddenly wishing that she hadn't dropped her guns, she tried to put on a fake smile that indicated that she wasn't concerned by the actual skill of the girl. "Then why don't you prove it to me?"

"Oh I wonder what we're doing now." Rebecca responded with sarcasm lacing her voice.

The former Huntsgirl stopped suddenly and looked the girl straight in the face, Rebecca was easy on the eyes, but then again she looked like she had just turned twenty and naturally everything would be where it was naturally supposed to be, alright so she seemed like the type who wouldn't be affected by shots at her image. But what about personal things, Rose doubted that this was the time to ask her what happened to her parents, or if she had any brothers or sisters, and beyond there was nothing much except her life down here in the old Huntslair. Then it hit her how to perfectly distract this girl, while she had the traits and attributes of almost all typical twenty year old girls, she seemed completely enthralled with her fighting skills and that was her one avenue of taking the girl down quickly. She reflected again that the girl was good, and again she reflected that she was even better. Kicking the girl squarely in the stomach, it forced her back with a heavy grunt and Rose took advantage of that time to kneel down and peel back the covering of a small compartment that was located were the heel of her shoe bet the bottom of it. Forcing her foot back in a motion, her trusty knife began to wiggle its way out of the compartment until the handle of the moderate sized knife fit snuggly in Rose's hand, and with a great exertion of strength she tossed it and it landed precisely where she wanted it to, in Rebecca's mid-thigh. That would stymie her fighting efforts. Rose pulled back from her stance and smiled at the girl.

"Don't worry about it," Rose mocked with a sneer now on her face and her words. "I missed your artery, but that'll change if you try to force it out and that should make you sit down."

Rebecca growled at her. "Take this fucking thing out of my leg now!"

"Make me Huntsmaster." Rose mocked with a taunting sneer.

The girl continued to growl and she did that until the pain became too much for her to even stand up, slumped against the wall she began to sink and she winced in pain when the knife that lodged in her thigh moved slightly. Rebecca began to paint, and then she stared daggers into Daniel, Jake, Jackie and Rose. "Are you happy now Dan? You've led the wolves to our door, and they'll-"

"Oh shut up," Jackie snapped with her hands on her hips. "In case you haven't realized yet girl, the Huntsclan is gone, they're dead and we are all that's left of it."

"I am what's left of it! You are traitors! I am the only loyal Hunter left!" She hissed clenching her fists in pure unadulterated anger.

Rose shook her head in exhaustion and it wasn't just because the girl was stubborn, it was also because that she was just utterly tired. "Your right in a sense, but what that really means is that you are the last of us who really believes in their brainwashing, magical creatures aren't bad, look at me, I married one, I have five kids by one and I have another one on the way, that's reality."

"Y-Your impregnated by t-that monster!" Rebecca's eyes widened in utter shock and disgust

"I am right now, and as I said I have been five times before," Rose pressed on hoping bluntness would wear her Rebecca down. "Dragons in particular are great, loving creatures, and even though on the outside looking in it sounds odd that I've had my children with a giant magical reptile, I don't care, because he's grown on me and I can honestly say he's the love of my life."

The girls face contorted in a mask of disgust, she couldn't imagine a life like that and she almost felt sorry for the Huntsgirl, to spend the rest of her life as the mate of a bloodthirsty, fire breathing disgusting dragon. "That abomination growing in your womb is a betrayal and insult to everything that you once held dear, I can't believe that I once idolized you, and you Huntress Hutchinson!"

"You have no right to speak to me," Jackie snarled. "Now I don't know what Rose is going to do to you, but if I were her, I'd put a bullet in your head right now."

To be honest, Rebecca wouldn't expect anything else from her, but she had a trump card that just found its way into her instinct, and she intended on using it to its full potential and that potential could by her some time to plan her next move. She would avenge her humiliation but for now she was settle by playing her trump card and get away with her life, but make no mistake about she would be back, some other time, some other day. "Have you ever wondered what happened to your parents Huntsgirl? I mean, I'm sure the thought has passed your mind at one time or another."

Her blue eyes softened and then they hardened with fury, she was almost blinded by the rage that was coursing through her veins. It was the third time in the past few hours that she had felt so angry, so enraged that she didn't know what she was going to do whatsoever. Her lips pursed into a thin smile, a smile that had struck fear into magical creatures and criminals in Los Angeles for so many years. "You just killed my patience, so you have two minutes to tell me what it is exactly that you're getting to our I'm going to cut you into bite sized pieces, understand that."

"When I was looking through the old Huntsmaster's records, I found your files, and I found the records of your parents buried in his personal journals that pertained to you," Rebecca smiled knowing that her plan was working without a hitch. "He kept them under surveillance until the day that he died, I know their names, I know where they lived, I know where they worked, I know their other children's names, and I also know that you were kidnapped when you were younger. Did you know that you have twin sister Huntsgirl? She looks exactly like you, minus the mark of the Huntsclan."

Rose felt light headed, her rage -which was now gone- felt like it had never been in her mind, Jackie and Jake walked up to flank her, and in spite of herself she was curious. Reaching over to the shotgun that was in Jake's hand, she grasped it and cocked it, and it one display of her irrational feelings, she walked forward and pointed it at her forehead, the barrel was so tightly pressed to the woman's forehead that it was cutting into the thin skin. "Alright, you might have just bought your life back, tell me more, names, dates, locations, everything!"

"Robert and Caroline Green," She smiled enjoying the feeling of the Huntsgirl's shock and dismay. "They live in Carmel in Putnam County, your father's a lawyer and your mother's on the city council of Carmel, your twin sister's name is Lillian, from the last intelligence report, she was married and had a kid on the way, your brother Joseph is divorced and he has a son, I can show you more."

The Huntsgirl nearly fainted, but she was stopped by a hard squeeze on her shoulder. She snapped her head to the right and found herself looking into the black depths on her husband's eyes, they were sparkling. Sinking down to her haunches, she reached forward and grasped the handle of her knife that was plunged in Rebecca's thigh, and she yanked it out of the young woman's leg, then she made a motion for the girl to get up. It took Rebecca a literal minute to get up on both legs, and she took in a deep breath as the pain was now settling in. "Show me, and I'll spare your life."

"Follow me." Rebecca forced out a compliant smile.

And then Rebecca began to limp, in the direction of the entrance that they had entered into the Common Level. Rose looked over to Jake and she wore a flat expression but Jake knew his wife well enough to know that she was masking her curiosity and shock, when she showed those emotions in front of other people it was because it was usually something so big that it was forced out, but she only let them flow when she was with him, and him alone. "Stay here with Daniel, you can use my guns, Jackie and I are going to go and see how this pans out."

"Understood, and if you want to talk, just come and find me." Jake smiled, knowing that she wasn't upset, she was just shocked.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Bellevue Medical Center, Manhattan New York, The Hospital Room of Johnny Sindacco**

"Ok, I love that you're very protective of your husband, you get that from your crazy mother," Erin said, baffled that her daughter in-law was still berating her of the one thing that had changed her life forever. "But your husband is _my_ son, he is _my_ flesh and blood, he came from _me_, and_ I_ have the right to mommy him no matter how old he gets, you will not take that from me Alyssa."

Alyssa sighed, she wanted to cut her hair and it was now annoying her in a situation that called for her not to be annoyed. As she had done so many times, she grasped her long flowing locks and proceeded to tie it back into a tight ponytail. Then when all was better, she placed her hands on her hips and shook her head in exasperation, this woman was infuriating and now she understood why some women never got along with their mother in-laws, in fact a few of her friends downright hated their mother in-laws and she was quickly approaching that level. Where did she get the nerve to start being a mother to Johnny? She had been presumed dead for over twenty years, and she just waltzes back into his life as if she hadn't been gone for two decades, and Erin was right on the money when she said that she protective of Johnny, and the included sparing him of any emotional pain. "You have no idea what if feels like not to have a mother, and than just to have that woman walk back into your life, it's bitter sweet, and even though I've grown close to my mother, I had to deal with all of the abandonment issues, and I will not have Johnny go through what I did."

"What your mother had to do what was completely different from what I had to do." Erin waved her off and then turned back to her husband who was just listening intently at this conversation.

That infuriated Alyssa, she now understood how her mother felt when she got this angry. "You ...BITCH!"

Erin spun around, her mouth was hanging open by the venomous curse that Alyssa had just spewed at her. "Excuse me?"

"You know damn well that what my mom had to do and what you had to do was exactly the same thing," Alyssa shook her head and smiled bitterly. "You both where facing death, you both had kids before you were twenty, the only thing different was mom had a kid with a man who loved her, while the father of your kids was an evil, loathsome basterd! That makes you a bitch in denial!"

"Don't test me, you don't know me so I'm gonna give you the benefit of the doubt," Erin growled, this was her other side beginning to show itself. "Make no mistake about this Alyssa, I'm am _just_ as dangerous as your mama, and I don't give a damn how she'll react, but if you say that again, and if you imply that never cared about Johnny again, I'm going to beat your ass sky high."

'_Oh will you now_?' Alyssa taunted in her mind, and then she walked forward. "Even without my powers, I think I can stand a chance against those fancy Huntsclan skills of yours."

Erin cocked her head to side and put her hands on her hips, she was amused and annoyed at this girl all at once and she yearned to wipe that attitude away. She walked forward and noticed a silver medical tray that was between them on the counter, it was almost there by fate. It was perfect! It wouldn't kill the girl, but it wouldn't be like being hit by a feather, yes from what it looked like, she and Alyssa were about to blow up and she was happy that they were in a hospital, and she was glad that Johnny wasn't awake to see what was about to happen. Erin noticed faintly that Alyssa's eyes also darted to that tray, it was probably something that she inherited from her mother, and she knew that Alyssa was prepared to take that tray and hit her over the head with it. But she was a Hutchinson and they always accomplished things first, and if she wanted to live up to her family name, she would be the one to smack Alyssa over the head with the medical tray. A thin smirk came across Erin's face and she knew that she was sending out a signal for Alyssa to draw or shut up. "So how are we going to play this Alyssa, five across the eyes and the tray across the head?"

"Your call Mommy in-law, I'll be one doing whatever you want to do though." Alyssa smirked preparing to shot for the tray when the time came.

That smirk that the older woman wore grew into a grin and then to a self satisfied smile, and in the flash on an instant, Erin's hands' found the tray first and all of the medical equipment that was on it fell off into a clatter of the floor. Little did Erin notice, that the moment the supplies fell to the floor, the head of dark hair and the bright green eyes of Johnny Sindacco popped up from his bed to find his mother strike his wife in the head with a metal tray and despite the fact that he was incredibly woozy and the fact that one of his arms was almost numb beyond all feeling, he was angered by the sight. No one struck his wife, not even his own godamn mother, a mother, he might add, that he had only known for more than five hours. As soon as his wife had fallen to the ground in a heap, that did it, he unleashed a feral growl at his mother which drew her attention to him immediately. "Oh my god, Johnny, I didn't mean for you to see that happen."

"Then when did you intend on me seeing it mother?" Johnny snapped, his voice deep and gorgy from waking up from his long nap.

Erin was speechless, sure she had experienced bad times in her life when she had just had the worst timing in the world, but this had to be a new record for the worst timing that anyone chose to attack their daughter in-law in front of their husband and son. Absently Rose put the tray back on the counter from which she had picked it up from, and then took a deep sigh. "Son I-"

"You have NO RIGHT TO CALL ME YOUR SON!" Johnny yelled at his mother, it hurt a part of him to say that, but you did not attack Alyssa, the thing he loved most in this world besides his kids.

That shut her up immediately, that was the worst thing that she had heard in her entire life, and it had to be the one thing that someone had ever told her that crushed her the most. It was akin to having your kid tell you that they hate you, but this was so much worse, his voice, the expression on his face, it made her racked with guilt over the way that she had reacted. Erin had let herself be played right into Alyssa's plan, she was sure that the girl had a plan but she wasn't exactly sure of what the details included. Her eyes began to water. "P-Please don't say that, please don't."

"No, you can't call me your son, not after this crap," Johnny shook his head in disgust. "Mark, get her the hell away from me, I don't wanna look at her."

Johnny didn't even bother to look if Mark had complied with his request to take Erin out of the room, instead he managed to twist to his side and look down at the right side of his bed. Alyssa was stirring and Johnny was grateful that the hit hadn't taken her out. "Lyss, are you alright? I'm up, and I want to talk to you, so can you give me some kind of sign that your freaking awake?"

"Relax," Alyssa managed, her voice hoarse. "If my mother can take a shot to the head, I can take one with a tray."

It took her a long time to pull herself up, her head was still spinning but as far as she could tell, she wasn't injured, perhaps she would get a headache, but that didn't matter really. "How are you?"

"How do you think?" Johnny responded, knowing that the answer would click her in his wife's head in a few moments.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX **

**AN:/ Mother and Son issues, Family issues? What more could you ask for? A lot more but this is all that I had time to write for, in the next chapter we'll be exploring Rose's biological family and raising pillars for the next story. We will also finally get our hands on the Nerve Gas, A Dragon Councilor will warn them of what's transpired and Johnny and Erin's relationship will be damaged for a long time. It has taken a long time, but the next chapter will mark the end of the Nerve Gas story line which is a milestone that marks the near end of this story. In chapter 45 we'll begin the last story line, the Dark Dragon Story line. Please leave a review for your author, it's polite and I would like to stress upon you that leaving those are always great for an author to read. So leave a review for me. **


	44. Revelations and Warnings

**Chapter 44 **

**Weapons of Mass Destruction, Revelations and Warnings **

**The Long Family Apartment, Manhattan New York**

Her family had never been lower than it had been now, even when their parents and their massive breakup. They were powerless, the thing that had made them unique was now gone and for Haley it had made her feel cold and empty. She was now okay, her face swelling had gone down and the soreness that had racked her body was now inhibited by the aspirin. Haley was almost tempted to get drunk again, but before Rose and Jake had left, they had asked her to check on their children every now and then, because they usually got restless after their feedings. And that had posed a seriously dilemma for her, because when she was around children she became enthralled with them. And these children, her niece and nephews, had something special about them. It wasn't the fact that all of them seemed to be the cutest babies she had ever seen, and they were, but it was the fact that they just seemed so young and innocent and they were having to face down the world's greatest evil all before they could talk. Haley knew however that they all had the most protective parents that one could ask for, and they would do everything they could to make the world safe for them. That sentiment went for her own child to, she would move heaven and earth to make everything safe for Luong and she would do the same things to make him happy.

"You're just a little cutie now are you?" Haley cooed as she held her youngest nephew Michael.

He looked up at her, his bright blue eyes flashing with innocence, he was obviously confused because he didn't know who Haley was. But despite that fact, Haley smiled and reached down stroking his downy blonde hair. Michael really looked like his mother, she was told the Daemon did to, but he had his father's eyes. "You look a lot like your mother, she had looks to and I think that one day you'll have to beat off the ladies with a stick, I feel for you, maybe you'll be like your daddy and the girls won't pay attention to you, and one day you'll find someone whose way out of your league."

In the most amusing thing that she had ever seen a child this young do, the boy raised a single eyebrow, she didn't even know that children this young could do that. Haley laughed and stroked the boy's soft cheek. "You do take after your mom, hey maybe I'm wrong and you'll have a million girlfriends, and maybe I'll have a great niece or nephew before your twenty, just like your Mommy!"

Michael grinned and clapped his hands together, Haley laughed again and leaned back into the couch. "Why are you awake? Your brothers and sister are asleep, and you're keeping me up."

"Maybe he's hungry again." A deep female voice said behind her, and it had the distinct inflect of Russian.

Haley spun around, careful not to cause any discomfort to her nephew, and when the woman came into view, she gasped. She was a Dragon Councilor, she could spot that from a mile away, and from her accent she was either the Russian Dragon, or the Councilor from the Russian area. But that still didn't comfort her when it came to the thought of the woman breaking into her brother and sister in-law's home. "You scared me, name's Haley Long and you are Dragon Councilor…?"

"Nebroshka," The kindly woman answered with a smile as she looked at the baby. "And I know who you are Dragon Long, it has been sometime might I ask where you have been all of these years?"

The younger woman looked at the older one, that statement puzzled her. "We've met before Councilor Nebroshka?"

"Yes," Sabrina nodded, as she walked forward and began to peer at the baby more intently, "When we battled the Dark Dragon at Victoria Peak twenty four years ago."

She still didn't remember the woman, but she was willing to give the benefit of the doubt, and the thought of an imposter did come across her mind, but it wasn't easy to transform and impersonate and Dragon Councilor. "I take it this little one is the offspring of General Long and the Huntsgirl? He does have a strong resemblance to Mrs. Long, however I can see his father in his face."

"Yes, he's one of their many offspring," Haley mused with a slight laugh. "And I have to say that all their kids have a strong look of Rose in them, my sister in-law has really powerful genes."

The other woman laughed and took a deep breath in. "This is all good, but I do have some serious matters to discuss with your brother, but I'm sure that I can tell you first?"

"I'm all ears, but I have to admit that I'm a little rusty when it comes to procedure." Haley stated reaching forward for the pacifier that was on the table and sticking it in the infant's mouth.

As soon as the baby was pacified, she turned and put on a serious face. "Would this have anything to do with the fact that my family's dragon powers have been stripped from us?"

She looked hesitant, and then she sighed deeply, this woman was observant and smart and she somehow had the feeling that she would be able to know things before she even said them. That was refreshing to the Russian Dragon, but somewhat annoying. "That is correct, but it just wasn't happened to your family, it has happened to all Dragons on this earth, something horrible happened."

"The Dark Dragon, did he do this?" Haley asked knowing damn well that was the correct assumption.

Nebroshka sighed and nodded. "We've been betrayed, the Pro Tempore has infused the power of the Dark Dragon with the Diamond of Draco, that means that he had ultimate control of the powers of the diamond, he has stripped all of his enemies of their Dragon Chi, but there is a side effect that he might not be aware of, and that side affect might be the only opening to stop him."

All of this had almost made Haley forget that she had a child in her arms, oh what where they going to do now? The Dark Dragon had control of their powers and that put them at a serious disadvantage. And to make matters worse, he had destroyed their military, and apparently he had taken control of the Pro Tempore of the World's Dragon Council. They needed to haul ass on whatever they were doing, or they would be way too late. "Ok, you're going to need to tell me what we're going to do about this, what the damn council is going to do about this."

"Dragon Long," She sighed. "The Dark Dragon has possessed the Military and the Pro Tempore, and the last thing that I saw was them executing the entire council."

Her eye's bugged out of her head, something like that was unfeasible. "H-H-How can he do something like that?"

"Two reasons, according legend when he went bad, he was given powers, very dark powers," She recited sagely. "And when he was resurrected when he was vanquished by your brother, the traitor Chang gave him even darker powers, now we are seeing the full extent of them, and by what he's done now we can guess that they are extremely powerful, I and I alone managed to escape."

"And what is this side effect that can help us?" Haley asked, her voice was flat from the pure shock of what she had just heard.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Abandoned Huntslair Complex, The Private Quarters of Huntsman Paul Sindacco, Manhattan New York**

"According to the Huntsman's journals, right before he died he placed your family under _heavy_ surveillance," Rebecca said as her fingers glided over the key board for the massive computer, and the photos of Rose's parents were now flashing up on the screen. "His reasons for that were unlikely but it was a possibility, he believed that's where you had gone after you had left the Clan, and he also had given the order to kill your parents if you should ever show up in Carmel, but you never did and they were left alone, After Huntsman Sindacco came to power, he took back the order."

Rose looked up at the screen and she found that she couldn't speak, on the screen where photo's of a hospital and she could clearly make out herself, a man and a woman, and another child who was completely identical to herself neglecting the birthmark on her wrist. These where her parents, she didn't like to admit it, even to herself, but she had always wanted to know who they were, and she wanted to ask them if they had ever loved her. That was a stupid notion though, because who doesn't love their child? But what she had meant by that was, did they ever grow attached to her in the short time that she had been around them. "Can you pull up the profile on my parents?"

The girl nodded and her fingers once again danced over the keyboard. "Your mother, Caroline Green, her maiden name was Davis, she was born in Virginia raised their until she was nineteen and then she went to college here in Manhattan, her mother was a member of the Daughters of the Confederacy, the Davis family descends from a Confederate General in the American Civil War, and let's just say the things that they managed to pull up on your Grandmother were not very flattering, she fit the complete stereotype of a Southern Belle, and she was an ardent racist."

"Ouch." Jackie teased, feigning a sting as Rose's mouth dropped.

"Caroline married Robert Green in 1990," Rebecca began again pulling up a photo of Caroline that was apparently a driver's license photo. "Robert lived affluently, he worked at his father's law practice, and in 1991 he took over, he pulled in a six figure income which allowed them to have every comfort you could imagine in life, and in 1992 you and your sister were born, in 1993, your brother Robert was born. At the last known report that they received, she had won a seat on the Carmel City Council and they were living comfortably in a two story mansion outside of that city."

Oh this was just too much, her mother was descended from a line of people who took pride in their Southern roots, and her father was a lawyer who apparently made millions. Now she wanted to know more about her father, she could only imagine what things she would learn about herself if her father was anything like her mother. Almost as if the younger woman had heard her thoughts, a picture of a man with blue eyes and blonde hair popped up, and she knew instantly that the man was her father. Her mother was a brunette with blue eyes, a very odd combination, but her father had the traditional look. "Robert Green, he's the second generation American in his family, in 1938 his grandfather and grandmother immigrated from Germany, not surprisingly, to escape the Nazi regime and Adolf Hitler, they weren't Jewish, but they were catholic and they were against what was happening in Germany at the time. That law practice that I told you about was founded by your Grandfather and your father is the third generation to practice law there. He's a heavy into guns, he owns a lot of them and he hunts, curious now isn't that Huntsgirl."

Rose was stunned, but she did manage to irk out a few thoughts. "Tell me about it, do you think you can …you know download all the information you can give me?"

"I've already done that," Rebecca smiled smugly, and she reached down to what looked like a computer port and withdrew an object that looked similar to a flash drive for normal computers and then she handed it to the shocked woman. "Just insert it into any computer and the information should be there, may I ask, has this bought me my life back or have you decided to kill me?"

The Huntsgirl looked down, and in motion that she almost never did, she scratched the back of her neck nervously and spoke in a quiet voice. "Uh …yeah, you can go, but don't give me any trouble."

"I won't," Rebecca bowed, albeit begrudgingly. "I thank you for honoring your agreement Huntsgirl."

"Yeah," Rose made a motion for her to move. "Jackie follow her and make sure that she doesn't do anything to Jake or those kids."

Jackie smirked, and she gripped her gun harder and reached forward to turn her iron grip on the girls arm. As soon as the girl was ahead of her, she pressed the barrel of the gun to the back of her head and pushed her forward. "Come on, let's go get your crap, and then you and I are going to take a trip to the surface so you can get the hell out of here."

"Whatever you say Huntress," Rebecca complied taking one last look at Rose, and then a satisfied smirk came across her face. "Whatever you say."

She would have her revenge, someday.

****

**Bellevue Medical Center, The Private Hospital Room of Johnny Sindacco**

"So," Johnny began leaning back into his pillow. "The Son of Bitch tried to take you down to?"

Alyssa nodded and scooted herself closer to her husband, they were together on his bed and now they were sharing a moment of contact that they so desperately needed. Alyssa nuzzled her head deeper into the pit of Johnny's good arm. "But you know my mother, when she found us she toyed with him and then killed him. I have a feeling Erin wanted to do it first, but she was out of luck."

From what she had told him, he had missed a lot while he was, shall we say? Out. His mother and mother in-law had gotten the information that they needed to get this Dragon Nerve Gas, and now his in-laws and Grandmother were now off to find it. Not to mention the one thing that really stuck out in his mind, Mr. and Mrs. Long had reconciled and from what Alyssa had heard, they had become closer than ever. It hadn't really sunk in however that his wife and father in-law could no longer transform into Dragons, but that was something that he would save for later to ask about, when he was able to walk at least. With his good arm, he snaked it to the curve of Alyssa's waist and pulled her a touch closer to him. "You know I love you right? I mean I love you so much Lyss."

"I know you do," She told him, her voice was groggy and he could tell that she was utterly exhausted. "And I want you to know that I love you and I'll never let anything hurt you ever again, and that includes your mother."

"Don't call her that," Johnny groaned. "If she was my mother, than she'd know better than to hit my wife in the head with metal tray."

Alyssa managed to nod her head. "Brian and Jack are alright."

"Are they at your parents still?" Johnny asked, just as he realized that he hadn't talked or even thought about his kids in several hours.

"Yeah, Haley's watching them," Alyssa answered, her eyes were beginning to grow heavy. "Erin's going to want to meet them, what do you want to do?"

Inwardly Johnny tensed, but before it could reach his muscles, it turned into a nonchalant shrug. "I'm not going stop her, just as long as she doesn't start hitting my sons over the head with a tray."

She laughed and then moved up to kiss him lightly on the cheek. "My mom would shitcan her if she did that, the bitch wants to tell me that she's somehow just as dangerous as mom, I have a feeling that if mom was around when she did that, then she would have proven how wrong Erin was. But then again I'm glad she wasn't around, she would have outright killed her."

"Maybe she deserves it." Johnny muttered.

That concerned Alyssa, sure she was upset with her mother in-law and she blamed her for everything that had happened to Johnny for most of his life, but she didn't want her husband to wish death upon his own mother. She decided that this wasn't the right time or place to say anything about it, but she would confront him about it sooner or later, because if she didn't then Erin did and if they were going to get along, Alyssa needed to make her Husband understand that he deserved answers from his mother that only she could give him. "When did they say they'd let me go?"

"Anytime you were ready," Alyssa responded. "I've already paid and given them our insurance, it should cover the x-ray's and the reconstruction of your arm, but I think we'll have to pay out of the pocket for your physical therapy, we shouldn't have any problem with it though, Mom said that she and dad would help us out if we needed it and our asses got into a pinch with the money it'll cost."

"Good," Johnny nodded. "Can you go get me some clothes?"

Alyssa nodded and she began to push herself up from the bed. "Before I came here, I swung by the apartment and picked you up some fresh clothes."

****

**The Abandoned Huntslair Complex, The Private Chambers of the Late Huntsman Paul Sindacco, Computer Terminal**

Wow, she had never imaged that she would have come from such a diverse background. On her mother's side, she was the descendent of a Confederate General and on her father's side she was the descendent of a pair of German Immigrants, if she didn't know that was incredibly busy and tired than she could have sat there for days looking at all of the information that her '_Uncle_' had gathered on her biological family. And don't get her wrong, when she got up the courage to look at all of the information and quite possibly track them down, then she would and she would love it more than ever to find them and meet them. But this wasn't the time, she had other matters to attend to like protecting her children and her husband from the Dark Dragon, who was at this point it time hell bent on taking out the entire Long Family before anyone else. "Computer: Bring up the schematics and security protocols for Dragon Nerve Gas project series nexus three."

"Affirmative," The computer voice responded. "Dragon Nerve Gas Project Series Nexus Three, commissioned circa twenty one standard years, decommissioned circa twenty one years ago, project developers are as followed in order of precedence, Hunter Dallas Grey, Chief Scientist, The Huntsgirl Thorn, Chief Engineer and liaison to the Huntsman, Hunter Erin Hutchinson, Chief Mathematician and secondary Engineer, project was decommissioned due the fact that the nerve gas substance proved dangerous for both humans and Dragons at time of testing, further hypotheses indicate that after substantial amount of time has passed then the effects on the human nervous system will become void, further research into the project is recommended after a time has passed."

Rose scratched her head, this was getting more and more irradiating by the moment. "Computer: specify what safety and security protocols are around extraction of the Nerve Gas Canister."

"Robotic Arm and isolation case are required for movement of the canister," The Computer answered. "Use of a chemical bio-hazard suit is recommended, but optional, warning! Do not expose skin or eyes directly to the nerve gas ejection chamber, and do not inhale fumes from the canister ejection port, it could easily result in death. Robotic Arm, Isolation Case and Bio Hazard Suit are located in this office. Proceed to Vault Number 639, do you wish to unlock the security precautions on the locking mechanisms? Or do you wish knowledge of the unlock codes of the vault itself?"

"Well duh," Rose mused with a slight smirk. "Unlock Vault 639, and would you please indentify storage locker that contains the times necessary to safely remove the Nerve Gas Canister?"

"Safety Locker Delta-1294 is located within this office," The computers female voice respond flatly. "Would you like to activate unlock protocols?"

Rose chuckled and looked off to the corridor to the far right of the quarters, over it was a plaque that had '_Delta Corridor_' and then she remembered how things were classified in this base. And it would be marginally easy to find all of the safety equipment now. "Thank you computer, you may enact self destruct protocols of your CPU, thirty minutes, silent countdown."

Then she turned on her heel and began to walk towards the Delta Corridor. "No one's going to need you anyway."

****

**The Abandoned Huntslair Complex, The Common Level of the Huntslair Complex**

"Well I doubt we'll be seeing that Rebecca again," Jackie smirked as she walked back into the common level. "How have things been here?"

Jake looked at the older woman and returned her smirk with a toothy grin. "I've been holding a gun to Daniel's head but otherwise it's been pretty boring, what did you with Rebecca?"

"I forced her out to the subway tracks, if she get out of the rail station or not I don't really care." Jackie shrugged as she turned her eyes to Daniel and the other kids.

Damn they could sleep; ever after Rose and Rebecca had fought each other heavily they still could sleep like they were dead or something. No they couldn't be dead, all of their chests were moving they were just sleeping. And then her eyes drifted to a small girl who was huddled in her cot, and that just made her blood literally boil. God if she could just go back and find Rebecca, she would inflict so much pain on that girl that it would be a new level of torment for her, or if she would have just taken that knife out of her thigh and gently put it at her throat …never mind, it was too late anyway. But maybe she could help one or two of these children, it could be the least she could do and it might have alleviate some of her anger. "Uh, Daniel what's that little girls name right there?"

"Marissa Behrens," Daniel answered looking sadly at the girl. "Poor girl, she saw her mother have her head ripped off by a dragon solider, a lot of issues."

Jake took a deep breath in and shook his head, he was going to do the same thing to each and every one of those soldiers that did that. "Oh, I'm gonna rip their head off for doing that."

"Behrens? Did you say Behrens?" Jackie asked, she remembered that name and if she was right than that would mean …no it couldn't be… it just couldn't be true.

Daniel shook his head. "Yeah, that's her name, does she mean anything to you?"

"My husband's sister," Jackie breathed, she was trying to put this together in her head. "She married a Hunter named Jack …Jack Behrens… do you know her family background?"

The boy shook his head, no he didn't, but he was beginning to grow steadily intrigued by what the legendary huntress was getting on to. "You could check the computer database, there's one right over there, limited access to old files but I think you should be able to access personnel files, Huntress Hutchinson is there something that I need to know about Marissa?"

She was already walking to the large computer, and even though the chances of that girl being related to her were slim, she still needed to know. She knew that her sister in-law had a child, a daughter named Erica, but she didn't know if Erica had a child, and if her suspicion was correct, then Marissa would be her great niece. She would be Erin and Johnny's second cousin, which she was sure of, and the more that she thought about how un-common a name like Behrens was in the world. Jackie was sure now that Marissa was her niece's daughter, she only needed the physical proof of it. When she arrived at the computer, her brain raced to remember how the Huntsclan Central Computer worked. Rose had told her that it hadn't changed much since had left over more than twenty five years prior, and the same basic principles applied, and she even let her know of a new feature that she was much interested in trying out. The computer brain could be interacted with through voice and that eliminated the need for the use of computer skills. "Computer: bring up the files on Huntress Laura Hutchinson-Behrens, her spouse, children and all of her relations, and could you ehm …recite the crucial information with an audible playback?"

"Query: do you mean that you wish this computer unit to inform you of the crucial information on all files pertaining to Huntress Laura Hutchinson-Behrens?" The computer asked in a questing tone.

Jackie nodded her head stupidly. "Yeah, I believe that's what I asked for."

"Understood," The computer responded, and then information and a picture flashed on the screen of Laura Hutchinson her sister in-law. "Huntress Laura Hutchinson, Born 1952, Daughter of Hunters Joseph and Michelle Hutchinson, Brother to Nicholas Hutchinson, She reached the top of her graduating class at the Huntsclan Academy, excelled in the art of espionage and became a Senior Huntress in 1973, Married Senior Hunter Jackson Behrens in 1974, in 1980 she gave birth to her only offspring Erica Behrens. Her date of death was 1993 in combat against the forces of the Dragon Council."

A pang of sadness hit her at those words, she had always been fond of Laura and during the time that she and Nicholas had been courting, Laura and she had gone to being acquaintances to friends and they had even consoled each other after Nicholas had been killed. But she was dead now, and she was more concerned with the thought of the little girl who was less than three hundred feet away from her being Laura's Granddaughter. "Computer: bring up the files of Erica Behrens."

"Erica Behrens," The computer recited flatly. "Born 1980, rose to second in her graduating class at the Huntsclan Academy, she achieved the rank of Huntress in the year 2000 after her slaying of two dragons, in 2004 she was brought to disgrace after she became pregnant by an unknown male, however her crime was resolved by a pardon that was given to her by the Huntsman, the explanation given was simply the honor that her family had brought to the Huntsclan, in 2005 she gave birth to a female child, Marissa Behrens."

The breath was sucked out of her at that instant, she somehow knew that the girl had belonged to her family and she wondered why it was so surprising. Now she knew that she needed to get that little girl out of here and give her a life worthy of her maternal family, the Hutchinson Family, the family that she herself belonged to, the family that her daughter belonged to and the family that her grandchildren and great grandchildren belonged to. Jackie was going to get Marissa out of here so that she could be with the family that she was robbed of at an early age. Running a hand through her hair, she turned and walked away from the computer. And when she got back to where Daniel and Jake were watching her with concern, she put on a stunned but yet equally happy look on her face. "Well in case you didn't here that loud computer voice, Marissa's Grandmother was my sister in-law, which makes her my great niece so if you have any objections I'll be taking her."

"What," Daniel was stunned and it was clear on his face. "You can't just …take her with you, even if is your family, we've been her family for the past three years!"

Jackie just snorted out a laugh and shook her head. "Family is everything to me, it's all I really have left, and so help me, I'm not going to have some snot nosed kid tell me what I can and cannot do when it comes to helping out a member of my family and if you have any objections, you can talk to my gun when its pointed in your face you little brat now step away from the girl."

"Do as she says Daniel." Rose's voice came from behind the three and at the sound of her voice, they all spun around and all three of them gasped.

Rose was managing to carry a medium sized black leather bag and a large, bulky looking metallic device that Jackie recognized as a robotic arm. Jake pushed between the two and was immediately at his wife's side and taking the robotic arm out of her hand. She smiled and winked at him in some sort of silent thanks, and then she looked back to Jackie and Daniel. "The girl will be fine with us, and she'll be way better off in the care of Jackie or her daughter, but if she stays down here, with you, then she'll have a really short and bad future, you know just as much as I do."

"B-But, I-I'll miss her," Daniel said, his voice died out as that revelation came out. "I-I know that she'll be alright will all of you, but what the hell am I going to do? Take care of the rest of them?"

Jackie, Jake and Rose all shook their head simultaneously, it was Rose he finally spoke up again. "Come out of the damn sewer, take care of those other children until you all can go your separate ways, but you won't have to worry about Marissa because she'll be coming with us, like it or not, and I have a feeling it'll end bad for you if you try to put up a fight with her."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**AN:/ I've decided to split this chapter in two, together it equals about ten thousand words. This is the first part and its over half of that, and I lied, the next chapter is when the Nerve Gas story line is resolved. And currently I'm trying to build up the story to the Epilogue and trying to set the stage for the next story. The Marissa storyline was a late addition, and it posed a mighty fine issue when it comes to the time line. If you know your stuff about American Dragon Jake Long, you'll know that the timeline that I've set up in this chapter isn't canon, but I would like for you to ignore it, I tried to make it be logical. I'm going to have to ask you to be ok with the time line of events because it was just to mind boggling to adjust it to Canon time. Will that be a problem?**


	45. Revelations and Warnings Part 2

**Chapter 45 **

**Part 2**

Rose didn't want to lose Jackie when it came down to it, she needed all of the help that she got when it came to going down to the vault levels and extracting the Nerve Gas Canister. But from what she understood about Jackie's connection to that little girl, she understood completely that she needed to get her out of the old base and into the arms of her actual family whom was alive and well. It was strange really, it seemed so equal to her own more personal situation regarding the family that she was taken away from only minutes after she was born. It was like a parasite leaching on her mind every step she took deeper into the Huntslair, and she found that not even the threat of the Dark Dragon could get her mind off of what she had learned about herself. "Do you think we were right in leaving her alone with Daniel? I mean I'm not worrying about her safety, but his actually."

"You mean you're worried that Jackie might castrate him if he stops her from taking that Marissa girl with her?" Rose questioned as the tromped through the tunnels that led to the entrance of the Vault Level itself.

Jake shook his head, while she had trouble even lifting the robotic arm, he was handling it very easily which surprised her, for one he didn't have his Dragon Powers, and a lot of the strength that they afforded his human self had gone with them. "I mean he's a good kid and I'd hate for him to get killed all because Jackie had a temper tantrum, she should see it through his eyes. It'd be like someone swooping in and breaking me and you up."

Her back stiffened visibly at this and then she was reminded of the utter hate that had been swelling in her no less than an hour and a half ago. Rose stopped and turned, and she fixed her husband with an ice glare, she tried to keep it as un-serious as possible but for someone like Rose, that was incredibly difficult. "As I recall Dragon Boy, someone actually tried that."

"But she failed …miserably I might add," Jake winked at her trying to get the point across that he wasn't at one time tempted by Trixie, even though he was, and in Rose's mind she was laughing that he was taking her outward reaction very seriously. "You're the one and only shrew in my life baby."

Rose smirked, and shook her head with a snort of laughter. "I was kidding Jake! It's all water under the bridge, but if you call me a shrew one more t-"

"You're the only …drop dead gorgeous shrew in my life." Jake remarked with a grin that could melt Rose's heart any day, and today was no different.

"Better," Rose smiled turning around and resuming their walk towards the entrance of the Vault Level. "So …I was thinking about baby names earlier."

This time Jake stiffened, he hadn't named one of their children. But apparently his wife was going to force him to enter this line of thought with their sixth and hopefully final child. "I thought you thought about them while you were still in the stirrups or in Alyssa's case with a gun toward your head. Now almost twenty years later you finally ask me to help you name them."

"Uh …don't say _them_… I don't want to think about the idea of having two of them at a time again," Rose shuddered visibly at the thought of having twins again. "But if I do end up having twins, I want one of them to be a girl."

"It's been eight months and I still can't believe you popped out some twins, I don't even think that they run in my family." Jake wondered out loud.

Rose smiled to herself. "They don't run in yours Jake, they run in mine."

"So that whole real family thing panned out actually?" He asked brightly.

She shook her head and tightened her grip on the leather bag that carried the bio-hazard suit and some of the safety equipment. "Yeah, I was surprised to know that I actually have a twin sister, looks exactly like me."

"Wow," Jake laughed in pure amazement, there were actually two of them and his mind began to wonder of his sister in-law. "I wonder if she's hot."

"She's my carbon copy Jake, of course she is," Rose turned her head and stuck her tongue out at her husband. "But I did see her driver's license photo, she cut her hair and got a bad dye job, it was weird I was thinking about doing it to, but now I see how bad I'd look if I tried to do it."

Jake laughed hollowly, he wouldn't like her cutting her hair, let alone dyeing it. "I would have to second that motion baby, I've always liked your hair."

"Thanks sugar," Rose smirked adding in a southern twang to her voice, after finding out that she had deep roots within that culture, she might as well try it out. "Did I tell you that I'm related to a confederate general?"

His eyes widened, that was something that he wasn't expecting to hear whatsoever. "As in American Civil War Confederacy? That's pretty big."

"I know _darlin_'" Rose winked adding on the last word with a southern accent.

That voice, it did something to him, it made his blood boil would arousal, but he needed to quickly burry it. There would come a time for that but it was not now, and besides when she reached the second trimester of her pregnancy then she would be using him as a human sex toy, not that he minded. "So you were thinking about Baby names? I was thinking Alex."

"Alex huh? How about if it's a girl Alexandra?" She suggested showing her clear bias of having another boy; she wanted another girl so bad it hurt.

"Do you want a girl so bad?" Jake asked with a puzzled expression.

Rose nodded her head vehemently. "Hell yes, not that I don't love my little boys, but you know I think me and Rachel are on short end of the stick, the whole house is flooding with damn testosterone and I'm sick of it honey."

"Well you better hope that a girl is in the cards, or it's going to stay that way Rose," Jake added with a mischievous smirk. "Just the way I love it."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX **

**Bellevue Medical Center, Manhattan New York**

Erin was in utter shambles, her other two children had told her that they hated her before but they soon changed their minds and it wasn't as if Erin had taken it seriously. But when it came from Johnny, it hurt, it hurt so bad that she had taken to the lobby and she was now crying her eyes out. For a moment she wondered if she would attract attention, but then she realized that this was a hospital and it was New York, so it really wouldn't be all that abnormal for a crying woman to it in public. "Erin, it's gonna be alright."

"No it won't," She shook her head and she gently wiped the tears off of her cheeks. "I fucked up royally Mark! He said he doesn't even want to look at me and your sitting here and telling me that everything is gonna be alright."

Mark sighed and began to rub comforting circles in the middle of his wife's back. "If there's one thing that I've learned from watching your family in the past few hours, it's that you all eventually come together and work things out and you'll all get through this, even though you did fuck up."

"I hit his wife in the head with a tray," Erin laughed through all of the incredulity that those words made her feel. "I can't believe I let myself do that, you know I've spent the better part of the past twenty years trying to control that part of myself, and just being back around all of these people that I knew and worked with in the Huntsclan …that control went away."

He laughed, sure it had freaked him out when she had first let that side of herself show, but he had grown used to it and he was happy that he had a wife who could take care of herself. But he didn't want a wife who would shoot him in the head whenever he pissed her off, but somehow he knew that Erin wouldn't go that far. "You can never hide who you really are, you just have to find ways to comprise with the other things in your life."

"I just wanted to be something more than this, I mean when I was sixteen I never imagined that I would have just become a house wife," Erin told him shaking her head with all of that pent of anger that she had gotten for herself. "I would have been so much more if I hadn't made the mistake of being a horny teenager, but I made my bed and I guess that I have to lay in it, am I being overly critical of myself? I don't have a boring life, do I?"

Mark was surprised at her tone, it sounded as if that she was regretting the life that she had built, and that she was regretting ever having Johnny, granted he had only known the kid for a few hours but he seemed nice enough. And he could completely understand if Johnny was mad at her, Erin had been kind of out of line with what she did to Alyssa. "I don't think your boring, not at the least, but if this is the sort of excitement that you want in your life I really can't stop you, but I want you to take care of yourself."

"Take care of myself? What the hell do you mean by that?" She asked.

"Don't get yourself killed," Mark explained. "You know I'm all happy for you that you found your first son and all of that, but you can't forget about our kids. They're still young and they need you just as much as they need me, but Johnny's grown, he has a wife and two children, he doesn't need you."

That was true, even though she didn't want to admit it, he didn't need her, but she needed him. She needed to know him to make herself feel better about what she had done twenty years ago. Erin needed to know that he didn't blame her deep down for leaving him with his father, because if she was him then she would be incredibly upset with being left with a man like Paul. "I-I just need to know that he doesn't blame me for everything."

"He's told you that he doesn't, but when you go and do something stupid like you just did then he might start feeling some animosity," Mark said with a bright, sympathetic grin. "You just had to learn that Johnny had flown the nest and he doesn't have a need for a mother anymore."

Erin couldn't accept that, she wouldn't accept that, but she would do something to comprise with the situation that was before her.

She would have to do that to keep a mildly good relationship with her son and his little, annoying wife. "Erin, what are you thinking about?"

Brought out of her sad feelings, she looked at her husband with a soft smirk on her face. She was thinking about something, thinking about ways she could get her way over her daughter in-law. "Oh nothing …nothing at all."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Manhattan New York, The Long Family Apartment**

"Do you know about the General and Mrs. Long's plans to keep these children safe if their attempt to kill the Dark Dragon fails?" Nebroshka asked as they walked towards the balcony of the Long Family Apartment.

Haley didn't know, she hadn't gotten a chance to talk to her brother and sister in-law about their plans of keeping their children safe if things should fall out of the bottom with this whole Nerve Gas plan. She would venture a guess, but the guess that she had in mind didn't seem like something that Rose or Jake would think of, and it wouldn't be something that anyone who knew the story would like. They had one option has she saw it and that option wasn't something that would be her first choice, she was thinking about the man who was responsible for throwing her family's life into chaos when she was a teenager. "I don't know what my brother will think, but I'd say a safe place would for them to go to stay with my dad while their away."

She felt like she had to vomit those words, and there were several problems with her little '_suggestion_', first she didn't know where her dad was. Jake had told her that he was somewhere here in Manhattan, and the second issue was, would he want to see his Grandchildren? Would he hold the same phobias that he held when he left her mother all of those years ago? She didn't know and for the life of her she didn't want to find out.

"As I recall, you and your brother weren't exactly on good terms with your father?" She questioned with one raised eyebrow, it surprised her that even the Dragon Council had known of what happened. But then she remembered that her Grandfather had been on the Council and they had undoubtedly heard of that situation. Still it felt like a serious invasion of privacy.

Haley nodded her head. "Yeah, it's still a very sore subject, but you know he's the only person who I can think of that can still take care of these kids, all of the other people who can put up a fight are either dead, imprisoned or on this assignment that the council charged them with."

"What about Fu Dog?" The Russian woman asked with a smirk.

"He's elderly," Haley shook her head at the memory of how much Fu Dog had changed since the last time that she had seen him. "I don't think he can handle six children all at once, but maybe my dad can, he was good at it."

Nebroshka's smirk cracked into a full-fledged smile. "Good at Child Care?"

"Yeah," Haley nodded. "From what I was told anyway, I'll see if I can dig up where he's at right now, but I can't promise that Jake and Rose will agree."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Manhattan New York, The Huntslair Complex, Common Level**

There were two sure fire signs to spot a Hutchinson, the hair and the eyes, and from the little girls mane of onyx locks she could only assume that under her eyelids were the greenest eyes that one could see. Her daughter had them, Johnny had them, hell she had them and she wasn't genetically related to the Hutchinson bloodline. This was a special moment for her, not in her wildest dreams did she imagine that she'd ever see the other side of her family meaning the branch of the Hutchinson's that started with her Sister in-law. "I'm gonna get you out of here, and you'll be safe with me."

"You'd better keep your word Huntress Hutchinson," Daniel said from behind her, he had contempt in his voice. "Because if she isn't then you'll regret it."

Jackie snorted and turned to the boy. "You'll regret it if you ever pick a fight with me or my family boy, I can pretty much guarantee that."

"I believe you." Daniel said with an utterly resigned sigh.

"Good," She narrowed her eyes. "Now, does Marissa have anything special?"

The boy shook his head, no, they kept their possessions near their cots, because if they put them anywhere else then it could easily be lost. "No, just the clothes on her back, and maybe the friendships she built with the rest of us, but I can't see a method of bringing those with you, unless…"

"Ha ha no, not going to happen," Jackie dismissed what he was getting to with a wave of her hand. "I'm leaving it in your capable hands to make sure that this kids are taken care of and if I find that you let them suffer-"

Jackie stood up from where she was sitting near Marissa and the others and approached Daniel, and in her eyes was the death glare that had sent fear through Hunters and Magical Creatures alike for decades. She got so close to the boy that he could feel her breath against his cheek. "I'll find you wherever you think that you can hide from me, and I'll make you suffer."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Manhattan New York, The Huntslair Complex, The Vault Level **

It was amusing to her, she could see the hands of the Huntsclan all over the design of the massive level, and from what she had seen from the maps on the Huntsman's computer, this entire level encompassed the bottom of the base. It must have stretched for two miles, it could have been bigger however, but she wasn't going to stick around to see what she could find in this large place. She turned and looked at her husband, and as she expected he was beginning to get tired from carrying around the metallic robotic arm.

"Getting tired honey?" Rose questioned raising her eyebrow.

Jake shook his head and offered her a toothy grin. "No baby just getting started, but you look tired holding that itsy-bitsy leather bag."

"Well I think by the time we reach the Vault we need than you'll be pretty pooped out," Rose winked and turned back, she could see the vaults that aligned both walls and much to her dismay, they went in order of numbers starting with one and two and three and so on, and the vault that they needed was 639. "Alright, so I can estimate that we'll be there in about fifteen minutes if we keep moving, are you sure you don't want me to carry that damn thing? And do you want to carry this itsy-bitsy leather bag."

Jake sighed, but then he chuckled and grinned brightly at her again in that smile that made her heart melt. "I got it, and besides you don't need the stress with little Alexandra in that baby oven of yours, got that _Rosie_?"

"Way to suck up," Rose mock snarled at him. "And don't you ever call me that again, or you'll be suffering a very excruciating and demise by me."

She always was good at proving a point, and for that matter he knew never to second guess her when she started making death threats. But what was so bad about calling her by that name, it wasn't like it was going to replace her actually name, but what was the harm exactly? Jake wanted to know so he could avoid doing it in the future with her. "Have I offended you?"

"No," Rose closed her eyes with a resigned sigh. "It's just that Paul used to call me that when we were kids, and I've always sort have hated it, so if you don't mind Jake, never call me Rosie ever again, really bad memories."

Jake nodded, he could understand why she didn't want to be reminded of Paul and Johnny was enough at that. "I understand, so why don't we get moving and this damn weapon."

"I thought you'd never ask." Rose winked again she began to lead the way.

It took them more than fifteen minutes, it took about twenty five minutes and when they finally reached Vault 621 they felt like they were going to drop dead. Jake especially, but Rose, she was panting and it felt weird, the only heavy things that she was carrying was the guns which put about five extra pounds on her. But it was still strange to her, she felt exhausted from another five pounds on her, but that Robotic Arm must be fifty pounds. She must be getting old, a thought that scared her, because she didn't want to be nursing home old just yet, maybe the old as in the way Jackie is. "Alright, good news is, we've only got eighteen more to go, bad news, I feel like the crap's been kicked out of me and I think I'll pass out if I take another step."

"Rose, are you alright?" Jake asked heaving the retracted arm forward and taking a step closer to her, her forehead was covered with sweat, she may have said she was alright, but from her outward appearance she wasn't.

"Y-Ye-Yeah," She stuttered and then she finally did it, her stomach finally contracted and bile among other things poured out of her mouth and onto the ground, inwardly she cursed, now was the time that she would experience morning sickness, it had happened with the other five and she should have known that it was going to happen again. "Sorry about that."

Jake shuddered as he felt the bile actually go into his shoes, he knew when he took another step that it would make that squishing sound and he himself would vomit after hearing that. "Uh, don't worry about it, I can always buy new shoes, but you have to help me burn these ones when the time comes."

"Deal," Rose said panting and setting the bag down. "Can you carry me?"

He laughed, that wasn't something that he had ever heard from her, even when she was pregnant and tired as hell she had never asked for him to carry her to some place. "Oh the great Rose Long asks me to carry her?"

"Oh shut up! I'll walk myself," She snarled, but it had a purpose to it that she knew would be coming any second now. Finishing a silent countdown in her head, she felt her legs swept up from under her and then she felt his strong arms wrap around her. Smiling to herself, she wiggled her feet happily and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Oh goodie! My big bad husband decided to carry me, and he'll know that I'll make _him_ a _she_ if he tells anyone that I asked you to do this, but really Jake don't say a word."

"I know I know," He reassured her. "You know I'm gonna miss this body."

"Uhh," Rose shrugged. "It'll be back within another year."

Rose noticed that Jake wasn't holding the robotic arm anymore, and then she looked back to where they had just been standing and saw both the bag and the arm sitting there. She brought her head up and looked at her husband with a puzzled expression. "Why did you leave those back there?"

"Because, I'm going to drop you off at Vault Number 639 and then I'm going to come back and pick those things up," He looked at her with an adoring expression. "I don't want you to feel any more tired then you have to."

Leaning her head back, she sighed contently and relaxed into the hold that Jake had on her. "It's weird, but I've never really felt more relaxed, there's nothing like exploring a decrepit old hell hole in the early morning in the arms of your very protective Husband, who would want more?"

"I could," Jake smiled. "Sure I'd like to have you in my arms, but I'd like it to be on a beach on some tropical island drinking alcohol and enjoying the warm sand and the muggy air, in short I think we need to go on a vacation and real soon, of course after you give birth to the new kid."

She chuckled, and shook her head. "I think we can go on a vacation, I can still travel on a plane, and I don't think we need alcohol to have a good time, so what do you say? Jamaica? Puerto Rico? The Bahamas? French Rivera?"

"Eh, the our own secluded beach in the Bahamas sounds really, really good maybe the French Rivera," Jake shrugged, he was really beginning to enjoy carrying Rose, that was strange, with anyone else he would have dropped them but he could carry Rose for the rest of his life. "I was thinking about something Rose, when this is all over, are you gonna try and find them?"

"Who?" She asked raising an eyebrow.

"Your family, your biological family?" He asked narrowing his eyes.

She didn't know, would it be too much trouble to try and seek them out? No it would really, and for that matter she wanted to know them and see them, but how would it affect her? Would it be for the better or the worse and that was a question that she could only answer by going out and doing it. When she realized that she had been quiet for several minutes, she turned her head and smiled at Jake. "I don't know Jake, one of these days though."

"That's an awfully vague answer." Jake commented.

Rose smirked at him. "Well then what I'm trying to say is, I'm not going to do it until I'm ready to do it, and I have no idea when that'll be done."

"Whatever you want Rose," Jake sighed and smiled. "I'll be there with you."

**Bellevue Medical Center, The Lobby of the Hospital**

"God I feel like shit," Johnny said he walked out down the hospital corridor with his wife steadying him on his good arm. "I just want to go lay down."

Alyssa smiled at him sympathetically, and shook her head, they needed to go back to her parent's apartment, Haley had called her and told her that something happened and she needed to let them know. Seeing as her father was in the Huntslair, she would be the one that everyone called when it came to matters of Magical affairs. She almost didn't want to tell him, but she knew that he wouldn't like it if they automatically when to her parents house, even though that's where their children where. "Listen Johnny…"

"I know," He smiled at her. "I heard you talking to your Aunt, and I'm perfectly fine going there, just as long as I can sit down somewhere."

She nodded and then took another deep breath in. "You do know that your mother and Mark have to come with us, do you feel comfortable with that?"

"Sure," Johnny said quietly looking down for a moment. "But I'm not going to talk to her, she hit you in the head with a godamn tray, I can't forgive that."

For her part, Alyssa had to take some fault with what actually happened less than an hour ago. "You know Johnny I sort of goaded her, it isn't entirely her fault, but I can understand how you'd be mad, but don't hate her for what I was sort of responsible for, she's only concerned for you, and she loves you."

"Why are you suddenly defending her?" Johnny scowled, noting that Alyssa had been somewhat wary of his mother ever since the night began.

"I'm not Johnny, I'm just saying that you need to have room within your mind to forgive her," Alyssa said hesitantly, it kind of hurt to say it for the animosity that she felt towards her mother in-law. "She's your mom for god sakes, and trust me when I tell you this that it hurts not to have a mother."

Johnny actually stopped and with his good hand he wrapped it around her forearm. "I don't know what that feels like? Alyssa, your mother came back to you, I had to find mine because she didn't get off of her ass and find me, I know I looked like I didn't have any problems with her before I was shot, but I have a lot of them and the questions that I have, she didn't answer them."

"Let go of my arm now." Alyssa said quietly not wanting to attract attention.

"Not until you understand that I can't forgive her." Johnny hissed.

Alyssa scowled and stepped closer to her husband. "Let go of my arm now, or I will call my parents and they're going to do more than shot you, got that, they will cut you into bite-sized pieces, all I've got to do is tell them, so let go of my arm and you can walk yourself to the lobby, do you understand that?"

They stood there for a moment, gazing at each other and Johnny actually began to pant. "Where did you park the car?"

"Structure 2, Level 2, Space 143," Alyssa responded, and Johnny observed that she looked a lot like her mother when she was this angry. "If you do not wait for me, your mother and Mark then I will shitcan you so fast it'll make your head spin, now I am going to go sign you out, get your ass moving!"

And then she turned on her heel and walked away from him.

They hadn't fought like that before, ever. And it actually scared him.

**The Huntslair Complex, The Vault Level, Outside Vault 639 **

She loved him so much, he was willing to carry her fat ass there and then pace back to pick up a fifty pound hunk of metal. Standing outside the Vault door, she eyed it, she had seen these vaults many times, not these in particular but they all had the same design. Bringing her hand up, she traced her fingers over the keypad and then he realized that the computer had already sent the order to unlock the door. Looking to her right, she looked at the large handle that unlocked the door, wrapping her hand around it, she grunted and pulled it and the tumblers in the vault itself began to move.

Pulling the handle back, she began to move it on its track and it soon disappeared into the wall. Then Rose took a deep breath in as she laid her eyes on the vacuum chamber that held the canister that she had been looking for all night and it seemed less satisfying then she had hoped. Hell she was almost mad that she had been to Washington DC and back just to find this measly inanimate object that had been under her feet the entire time, literally. "Computer: Status Report on this Vacuum Chamber unit."

"Acknowledged: Vacuum Chamber is at ninety eight percent efficiently," The computer reported. "Caution: last extraction attempt interrupted, Suggestion: re-initialize Vacuum state and then re-initialize extraction."

What? That was surprising, this vault wasn't supposed to be opened, but the computer had just told her that a previous person had tried to unseal and extract the Nerve Gas Canister. "Can you tell me the time of the last try?"

"Approximately two standard hours ago." The Computer answered.

Her eyes widened, and then she turned to her right and looked at the large screen that displayed images from the computer database that was in the Vault. "Access internal security cameras and display the last extraction attempt, security access code X555 Nine-Gamma."

"Security code accepted," The computer said and Rose breathed a sigh, she was happy that they were stupid enough never to change anything at all. "Displaying Security Camera footage of requested time index."

When the footage appeared on the screen, she gasped. She had been played, and if there was one thing you didn't do, you didn't play her, and now she was regretting not shooting the girl in the head after she showed her the files on her real family. "So," Jake said from behind her. "Rebecca was here."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**AN:/ There you have it, they'll extract the canister in the beginning of the next chapter, Jackie will make nice with Marissa and they'll take their first steps to the Dark Dragon. How will Jake react to what Haley suggested to Councilor Nebroshka? Will he agree to it? Will Alyssa and Johnny agree to it and how will Rose react. And more importantly how will they all react to the news that the Dark Dragon has effectively taken over the Dragon Council had leveled all of his resistance? And one more thing, how will Erin and Johnny react to the appearance and identity of Marissa? Read the next chapter to find out.**

***Sigh* it's almost over and I can see the finish line, but I can't say I'm disappointed, I really want to get to work on the next and final story. Which by the way will be "_Anything and Everything 4: New Horizons_"**

**Soooo….leave a review if you will please?**


	46. The Tales of War

**Chapter 46**

**The Tales of War**

Rose was born with that sense that told her what to do and what not to do, and most of that time she had followed it, other times she hadn't and she was beginning to regret not listening to it when it came to Rebecca Kay. Burning all of the features of Rebecca into her brain, she was cataloging what weakness her new found enemy demonstrated during their short but strenuous battle and what she could possibly use if they fought in the future which Rose was one hundred percent sure of. And she had learned her lesson, she would always listen to her gut when the time came, always.

Hopefully, she had kept Rebecca busy enough during their fight so that she couldn't figure those things out about her and Rose was fairly confident that she had accomplished that. Leaning down, her fingers traced the keyboard on the Computer Terminal and she ended the security video of Rebecca, and then she automatically brought up the stats on the Vacuum chamber. It was currently at one hundred percent efficiency and that meant that she could get a clear and cut one hundred percent shot at extracting the canister. "Computer: display a three hundred and sixty degree schematic of the canister and give me an internal reading temperature of the canister."

The imagine showed itself on the screen and Rose began to remember it like it was yesterday, the cylindrical shape and feel of the canister, the dispersal nodes at the top rim of the canister and now she didn't need to see the schematics she remembered everything. Turning now, she looked at the Canister ignoring the questioning look that Jake was sending her. "Rose, are you ever going to answer my question?"

"Yes I am," Rose responded looking over the canister. "And yes, she was here maybe before we got here, I can only image that this was the place she was at before we got here, the only question left to answer is why and how did she find _this_ single vault."

Jake scratched his head and shook his head. "I can't image how to answer that."

"I can," Rose said nodding her head firmly and turning back to look at Jake. "The little Bitch has an aptitude for running through the Archives, and now this is just a hypotheses but I think she ran across this when she was looking through either my files, Erin's or the late Dallas Grey's and she got so interested that she had to find it, and by the way, I think she has a little thing for you, and that's bad from a Hunter."

He raised an eyebrow and turned to look at the schematic on the computer screen unit, now that was an interesting statement. "I don't know you had a little thing for me?"

"Sure I did honey, but if you remember correctly I wanted to kill you with a passion before I knew who you were," Rose smirked at him. "Rebecca just wants to kill you, I know how to read people Jake and I don't need a degree in Psychology to know that she wants to wipe the Dragon's off the face of the earth, that's what her little thing is."

Before Jake could respond to her swipe at him, she turned and looked back to the Vacuum chamber and the order of what she needed to do flicked into her mind as naturally as her fighting skills, smarts, and strength and everything else that made her who she was. "Computer: begin extraction procedure omega 2, ETA of completion?"

"Approximately Twenty Five standard minutes," The Computer responded over the hissing that was now starting to come from the chamber. "Deploy robotic arm."

Rose turned to Jake and winked at him. "Go get that for me honey."

"As I was saying _sugarplum_," He added a hint of dryness at the last word before he went back to the door. "I falcon punched you so much in the uterus that I'm surprised you even had Alyssa let alone the other four and other on the way, now you retort."

She watched him as his hand grasped the handle on the device and a sly smile came over her face. "Thanks, I kicked you in the family jewels so much I'm surprised about all of that to. But thank goodness that there wasn't that much damage."

Jake grunted as he lowered the Robotic arm between himself and Rose, and then she squatted down and flicked a button on the side of it. Looking back up to Jake, she made a gesture for him to move back and as soon as he and she did that, a whirling came from the device and it began to move. In no less than five minutes, the small compact but still heavy arm became a large robotic hand and something that looked like a joystick appeared at a small console at the base of the arm. Rose looked over at Jake and smiled. "Dragon boy, may I present to you the Robotic Arm, it was the tool that the Huntsclan used to retrieve items out of hostile environments it didn't change."

"So how do you work this thing?" He asked looking over to her.

"Like a video game controller," Rose answered with another saucy wink. "And that's why I need you to extract it, I was never good at it, but I have a feeling your good."

He brought his hands together and cracked his knuckles, yes it had been a few years since he had played a video game, but he remembered it all too well. "I am good for it."

"Good," Rose smiled. "Now it seems that we have a few minutes to kill so…"

Rose let the last word trail off as she walked forward and placed her hands on his chest, she didn't know why she was feeling all of a sudden …hot, but she was and when she was like that Jake knew better than to say no to her. It had happened throughout the years of their marriage, and for those six months between the time that she had returned and when the Diamond of Draco had been stolen. When she had gotten this way in restaurants, she'd drag him into the bathroom, when they were at the movies they'd either do it in the deserted part of the theater or in the bathroom, oh her most personal favorite was in central park when they were alone. Yes, and she was going to add the Huntslair to that list. "…why don't we go sit on that table over there and you can show me how much stamina you have when you don't have those powers of yours."

"Rose …we're in the heart of the Huntslair," Jake whimpered, When this woman got horny, you didn't deny her, and plus he was a guy and why the hell was he complaining? He had _this_ to sleep with for the rest of his life, he was the envy of most men who saw her. And when you stroked a man's ego, good things happened. "But eh you know that table does look kind of soft it'll be good for my very sore back."

She smiled, and reached up to tie her hands around his neck and crushed her mouth to hiss. Between the breaths that they needed to take, Rose managed to breathe a statement that sent Jake's blood boiling. "Good, because I'm gonna nail you through that freakin' table Dragon Boy."

And that's when she jumped on him and wrapped her legs around his hips.

**Bellevue Medical Center, Parking Garage Structure Two, Level Two **

Erin, Mark and Alyssa had been walking from the hospital lobby for ten minutes in pure awkward silence, and if Alyssa had her way then she would keep it like that. The only reason that she was bringing Erin and Mark back to her parent's apartment was that they had instructed her to, but otherwise she didn't have to talk to them, or her wining husband for that matter. If someone asked her why she was pissed, it was two reasons, one, she didn't like it when people grasped her like Johnny had it was just one of her buttons, and two, Johnny was whining about how much his life had sucked and while on some level he was right, she would have to vehemently disagree.

"Your whining little shit of a son is in the car," She finally said with a hiss. "I swear to god if he has turned that car on I'm gonna dump him off the Brooklyn Bridge."

"And you'll be going right after him if you do that." Erin snapped back at the girl.

Alyssa turned and smirked. "Sure."

"I mean that Alyssa, you won't get far if you do anything to my son." She continued.

"Oh? So he's your son now, even if he doesn't want to think so," Alyssa stopped and faced her mother in law. "No matter what you think, no matter what the Huntsman did to you, what you did to Johnny screwed him up, and there isn't a damn thing on this earth that can change the fact that he hates you and he was better off without you."

That stung, it really did and if Erin didn't have a firm grip on her husband's hand then she would be on Alyssa right now, punching her in the face and slamming her head into the ground. But she was being controlled by her husband and that was the point, snorting at the girl she made a motion for her to shut up and to keep walking. And that's what Alyssa did until they reached the space to where she parked her car, and she about hit the roof when she saw that it was gone. "Son of a Bitch, I knew it!"

"Relax," Johnny said, he was on the other side and parked where there wasn't cars on either side. "I just wanted to move it so we could get out with you hitting something."

"Shut up, all of you get in the backseat NOW!" Alyssa ordered walking to the car.

"Hey this is my car too, I'm driving." Johnny protested.

Alyssa looked at him dumbfounded. "ONE HANDED? God you are a stupid ass, we're lucky that you didn't hit one of those cars, so I'm driving, this car is technically _my_ property just as parts of _you_ are, if you don't like that, then you, your mother and your stepfather can walk your asses to my parent's apartment, or you run luck to get a cab at this time of day, now are you going to shut up and get in the backseat now!"

"There isn't enough room." Johnny said quietly.

"I don't give a damn, sit on mommy's lap, might be good for you to do that," Alyssa said swiping the keys out of his hands and pushing him slightly out of the way to open the door. In less than a few seconds she already had the keys in the ignition and she had turned the headlights on. Johnny, Mark and Erin all blew out a sigh and did as they were told, like they all had a choice, none of them wanted to face the wrath of the girl's mother, even Erin who was _almost_ a match for her. _Almost_, that was the key word.

**Manhattan New York, the Huntslair Complex, the Common Level **

"Daniel who is this lady?" Marissa asked as she rubbed her eyes wearily.

He didn't know how to approach that, what the hell was he supposed to tell the little girl? That her long lost great aunt had returned from god knows where to whisk her away to a life that neither he nor Rebecca could have given her? Yes, now that he thought about it, that's exactly what he would tell her. She had been expressing her wishes to get out of the place, and this was the perfect chance, and he only wanted her to be safe. "Uh, yeah, this lady's name is Jackie she was your mom's aunt."

"Really?" Marissa asked looking up to Jackie's softened features.

For Jackie, the moment was purely a bittersweet moment, she could see her husband, sister in-law, niece, daughter and grandson in those deep penetrating green depths and she felt a bond with the girl because of that. She sunk down to her haunches and clasped her hands together. "Yeah sweetie, I married your Grandma's brother, did you know her?"

Marissa nodded her head and looked sad. "No, but mommy told me about her a lot and showed me videos, she was really pretty, so are you Jackie."

Jackie smiled. "Thank you sweetie, that's a nice thing to say."

"You're welcome," She responded shyly. "So you were my mommy's aunt?"

"Yep," Jackie shook her head with a warm smile. "And the last time I saw her was when she was as small as you, but I didn't know that she had a daughter, you look just like her and my daughter, hey would you like to see a picture of your second cousin?"

Marissa shook her head and she wore a curious smile. "Sure! Is she pretty?"

"She sure is, just like you." She reached back and slipped her hand into her pocket.

She wasn't like most women, she didn't keep her things in a purse, she preferred something simple and you didn't get any simpler then a wallet. When she brought the black leather in her hand, she quickly unfolded it and there was a picture of Erin, she was in her wedding dress. Her hair fell to her shoulder in onyx curls, and she wore the biggest smile that Jackie had ever seen, it was her favorite picture of her only child and it would be for the rest of her life. "See, this is how she was when she got married, isn't she pretty?"

The little girl look even sadder now, and she looked down at the ground trying to mask her tears, she was told first by her mother then Rebecca that you had to be strong, albeit her mother was much more nicer about it. But when the older woman's hand grasped her small child, she sniffled slightly and looked up. "Honey, I know that they told you never to let anyone see you cry, but I'm telling you that you need to cry, let it out honey."

And as if on cue, tears began to pour down the little girls face, the streamed from the green orbs and it broke Jackie's heart to see all of them. "Marissa, what's wrong?"

"I-It's just that," She began. "She's so pretty, and she looks so much like mommy did."

"I know, the women in our family all look very similar," Jackie smiled, it had been a long time since she had to comfort a small child and she felt those skills flying back at her at one hundred miles per hour. "Do you want to come live with us and get out of this place?"

"Yes," Marissa nodded, she was still shy of the woman. "Do you have cheeseburgers?"

"No, but I can get some," Jackie smiled. "And you can have all of them that you like."

"Ok," She said and then her eyes looked over to Daniel and a pang of sadness went through her again, she would miss him. "What about Daniel? Can he come?"

Jackie looked back and fixed the boy with a curious stare, what was she going to do? She wanted to take Marissa away from here but she wanted to make the little girl happy to, there was only one thing that she could do. It wasn't like she wanted to do this and she would be forever suspicious of Daniel, but she knew that Marissa liked him and if she wanted it then godamn it she would get it. "Marissa, can I talk to Daniel alone?"

"Sure," Marissa said, she promptly sat back down on her cot and snuggled her head into the pillow, apparently she was a Hutchinson in all forms, even sleeping. "I'll be right here."

She let out a light laughed and then turned towards Daniel, her face became serious and then she made a motion with her finger for the boy to follow him. Once she was sure that they were out of earshot from Marissa, Jackie cleared her throat and fixed Daniel with a glare that would make anyone's blood run ice cold. "So, it appears that my great niece wants you to come with us, so how do you suggest that we settle this issue?"

"I really don't know Huntress Hutchinson," Daniel shook his head, he was still surprised that the woman was considering all of this. "I mean I would love to continue seeing Marissa, but I don't want to impose on you just to see her, so whatever you're thin-"

"I have a room in my house that I can rent out to you," Jackie said, to hell with it she was going to do what Marissa wanted. "It's a nice room, air conditioned, lots of floor space, big closet and it overlooks my pool, you can rent it out from me if that'll work for you."

Daniel gaped, that was amazing, he was going to have to get out of here anyway and if he played his cards right, he would able to continue the friendships that he established down here and he would be able to get his feet on the ground. There was a catch however, no one did something for nothing, at least when it applied to these situations like this and he wanted to know them. "Alright, so what do you want in return for your offer?"

"Two of three things," Jackie said folding her arms around her chest. "One of those things is simple, you treat her like she's your little sister and if I become unable to take care of her you make sure she's taken care of, I don't care how you do it, if you take her to my daughter or my grandson, or if you do it yourself I don't care I want her taken care of."

He shook his head, he would do anything for the girl. "What else?"

"And to earn your keep around my house, you either have to do work around it, in the garden, inside it, I don't care," Jackie began raising an eyebrow. "Or you can get yourself a job and pay rent every month and still do what's necessary for that little girl."

It's was extremely fair, but he was now concerned about the other kids, the two older ones who where his age could get around on their own, but he was worried about the other eight children. He needed to know that they were going to be safe and taken care of and not stashed away in foster homes. "What about the other kids, what happens to them?"

"I don't know," Jackie shrugged, she was at a lost, if she sent them to the police then they would look at her, but if she didn't do something then they would all have horrible lives down there in the sewer or lost in the Government System of Foster Care, she didn't want either. "I honestly don't know, but I tell you what, if you accept my offer, I'll do my best to see that they go to wonderful loving homes that'll take them in as they're own."

Daniel bit his lip. "With your friends and family, I want them to go with them."

"I don't know about that happening kid, the other two who were with me have five kids and they have another one coming," Jackie ran over the thoughts in her head, logistically for Jake and Rose it would be overwhelming, but maybe there was a possibility with Erin, Mark, Alyssa and Johnny. "I mean I'll ask them, but I can't guarantee anything."

That was good enough for Daniel. "Please try to find them homes, please try."

"I will, I will." Jackie said rubbing the bridge of her nose, and then she looked back up at the boy with an idea in her head. "Daniel, do cell phones work down here?"

He shook his head. "Yeah, well I mean only here on the common level and in some parts of the Dormitory level, who do you want to call?"

"A few potential parents for these kids." Jackie said.

**In the Vehicle of Alyssa and Johnny Sindacco **

The ride so far was silent, but you could tell that Alyssa was steaming with anger through the driver's seat. It was a nice car, and Johnny was wrong when he had said that there wasn't enough space, it was a bit tight but the three of them still fit in the backseat. Erin, wedged between her husband and son, was beginning to grow anxious. She wanted out of this situation and there was no foreseeable end, and besides she had given her word to Rose that she would help them fight the Dark Dragon, because it would mean that her family would be rid of the biggest evil that the world had ever known. Erin sighed and leaned her head over on her husband's shoulder, she was tired and she wanted to go home and go to bed. When a buzzing sounded from Mark's pocket, Mark reached into his front pocket, when he had the phone in his hand he looked at the screen to see what exactly had disturbed it.

"It's a text message from your mother, she says to call her immediately and to put her on speaker phone so that we can all hear her." Mark said looking down at the phone.

Alyssa was the first to speak. "Well? What are you waiting for?"

"Give me a second and calm your fiery ass down." Mark said shaking his head.

Erin snickered.

Johnny grimaced.

And Alyssa, being who she was, cursed under her breath.

**Vault 639, Huntslair Vault Level, Huntslair Complex, Manhattan New York **

"You get better at that every time Jake," Rose said as she tied her hair back and lightly hopped off of the table, she looked back at smiled when she saw Jake actually sweating from their …personal moments. "What's a matter baby losing that magic touch?"

Jake chuckled and lightly wiped the sheen of sweat that was now covering his forehead, but his laugh was stopped when his pants suddenly hit him in the face. Grasping them, he pulled them off of his face and scowled at his wife. "What was that for?"

"Put your pants on Jake," Rose pointed to the vacuum chamber, and now Jake saw what she was referring to, inside the chamber the canister was now sitting peacefully at the bottom but the yellow field thing was still active. "You have to angle the arm now."

"What's that yellow thing?" Jake asked as he finally sat up.

"It's a ray shield," Rose answered as she handed Jake's pants to him. "It'll give you a nasty burn if you so much as even try and put a finger through it, put your whole hand through it and try to get the Canister out, and then you'll probably lose that hand."

Jake grimaced, there was that much pressure on him? Well he assumed that it would be easy because he has the massive robotic arm. He began to see the use for it and he found that it was a genius idea to use those things. "I know what you're thinking, thank god for that arm, well I completely agree, the arm is designed to withstand the heat that the ray shield puts about so all you'll have to do it grasp the canister and pull it out of the perimeter of the Vacuum Chamber and past the Ray Shield and set it down."

"Won't the canister get really hot?" Jake asked as he finally buttoned his pants.

"Oh yes," Rose nodded. "I'll need to dump some water on it to cool the surface, then we empty out that bag pad the canister with that suit and waltz out here, easy as pie."

He nodded, and once he managed to get comfortable with his clothes, he walked over and stepped next to Rose. They were both staring at the Canister that was now sitting at the bottom of the chamber, and both of them seemed to be amazed about how much destruction that the content of that canister could unleash upon both the human and magical worlds. "It's amazing don't you think, When you wonder how much damage that could cause to so many innocent people if it's let out into the population."

"And to think that I had a hand in creating it." Rose observed

Jake reached over a put a hand on her shoulder, she didn't need to blame herself for what she did in the Huntsclan and she didn't want her to feel guilty for the things that she did and besides, if she hadn't gone through those things then she wouldn't have been the person that he was so head over heels in love with. "Rose, you don't need to dwell on those things, you were ordered to do it and you knew perfectly well that if you didn't do it then the Huntsman would order you executed, and when you were much younger you didn't know anything different, but you're not doing it anymore now."

"I know, I know," Rose nodded. "I just feel guilty that I helped create a weapon that could have killed millions, not to mention you and your family, I really can't help it."

"But it was put away and you turned your back on this and these people who wanted nothing more than to kill creatures and people who were just different," Jake sighed and then he walked forward and sunk to his haunches to grasp the joy-stick like thing that was now protruding from the base of the arm. "Show me how to work this thing."

**In the Vehicle of Alyssa Long- Sindacco and Johnny Sindacco**

"Oh my god," Erin breathed and looked over to Johnny with the look of utter astonishment on her face. "Mom, are you sure that this kid, she's my cousin Erica's?"

"Yes I am completely sure," Jackie responded. "I looked back over her family background, she's the daughter of your cousin and the granddaughter of your Aunt Laura, she's got all of the tells, the eyes and hair, she even looks like you were you were that small Erin, I'm gonna take her in and see what I can do for these other kids."

Alyssa had pulled over and now they were all listening to what Jackie had to report from what they had found in the Huntslair Complex, she was more interested in knowing what the hell a group of kids from the Huntsclan were doing down in the old Huntslair. It didn't bother her that there were Hunters alive much less a dozen, but that they were kids and they had been forced to live down in that pit. She looked back to the phone and raised an eyebrow. "What happened to this Rebecca person?"

"Your mom, that's what happened." Jackie said with a hint of laughter.

She threw her head back and let out a hearty single laugh. "Give me details."

"Well," Jackie began choking back a laugh. "Your mom was very angry with her for making all of those kids live in that sewer, worst comes to worse and your mom ends up throwing a knife into the girls leg and that ended the fight, it was a good one."

Alyssa clapped to no one in particular and laughed again. "Did she kill her?"

"Eh …no, there's a reason behind that but I'm gonna let your mom tell you about it, anyway, Erin I'm gonna take Marissa with me," Jackie said with a bit of a sigh. "Do you want me to bring them to Jake and Rose's apartment?"

Erin shrugged. "Jake and Rose are there with you right? Ask them, it's their home."

"Alright," Jackie responded. "I'll see you in just a bit."

**The Common Level, The Huntslair Complex, Manhattan New York**

The Canister was surprisingly light, and for that matter Rose felt it was as if carrying a feather. In her right hand, she carried the leather bag that carried the Canister it was padded by the bio-hazard suit and if she should drop it then it should absorb the impact of it all. It was so odd, she was walking peacefully with Jake at her side down the corridor that led to the common room, and she had never ever felt so damn comfortable in her life. "I want to thank you for loving me despite all of my shit, I know if I were you dealing with me, I'd think that I was completely and totally insane."

"Oh I do," Jake nodded with a smile. "But I think we complement each other in our personalities, I'm the rational one, and you're the crazy bitch who brings order."

Rose laughed. "And we've got six little spawn who are a mixture of the both of us and I have a feeling that when they're all older, they'll be giving us a run for our money."

"We'll show 'eh who's boss," Jake winked. "You, you're the boss."

"That's what I like to hear." Rose nodded and looked back at the corridor.

They were now rapidly approaching the entrance of the common level and that would mean that Jackie and Daniel would be waiting there for them, and she would have to hear would this kid and she was curious about her. She was curious to know how she was really related to Jackie, Erin and Johnny and she would like to get to know her eventually. And something that roused her interest also was those kids, how were they going to get them out of there? You just couldn't walk a half a dozen kids right into the police station, at the very least it would look like you were some member of a cult.

And then she inwardly sighed and groaned, maybe, just maybe she would find it in her heart to take one in, she couldn't handle eight kids. It would involve a bunch of changes in her life, she and Jake would have to find a new apartment or move into a house out of the city, she would have to devote herself to a hypothetical eighth child, her three year old, her two year old, her two twin infants and not to mention a third infant. "I think that Jackie's gonna try and pin one of these kids on us."

"Why the hell do you think that?" Jake asked, that was very surprising to him.

Rose shook her head. "I just have a feeling, and now that I think about it Jake, would it be so bad if we were to consider it, haven't we been meaning to move into a house out of the city, and I don't think that I could even live with myself if I didn't do-"

"Rose, we have kids, we've got plenty, and I think that the world will be screwed up enough if it has any more people that were raised by us in it." Jake responded wide-eyed, now he was torn to the idea, he'd love to have more kids, but they'd have their hands full with five, Alyssa was a hassle and she was only one. But five kids of their own plus a sixth that they'd take in the idea seemed positively insane.

"Damnit I know," Rose's mind was made up, she wanted one of these kids and hell if she pushed her luck maybe two. "But I'm gonna have one or two, even if it kills me."

"You can't be serious Rose, this is a decision that both of us need to make and will it matter if I object, I mean hell I feel bad for those kids but I don't think we can have one, WE'VE GOT OUR HANDS FULL WITH OUR OWN KIDS, don't you get it?" Jake persisted, he was utterly hell bent on striking this crazy ass idea down to the ground.

Rose shook her head, she got the point, but still she wanted to take one of those kids home. "I understand, I just understand how they feel in a sense, you know not having parents, being taken from them and being raised to be a horrible person."

"First of all Rose, you're not a horrible person," Jake said shaking his head in pure exasperation. "Second, I can understand why you feel like that, but face it, we don't have the resources or the energy to handle all of those kids."

"Two problems, we have plenty of money," Rose pointed out being fired up again by his notion of not having enough money and energy to raise six children. "And we have plenty of energy, once you get your dragon powers back and once I give birth we'll be able to take care of them all, now we are taking one of those kids and you can kiss my ass if you don't want to but I'm going to do it and there's not a thing you can do."

Jake shook his head. "You wanna fight about this Rose? Like we used all the time?"

"You mean like when we were teenagers and when I was the Huntsgirl and you were the American Dragon right? When we didn't know who we were?" She asked.

"Sure honey, let's do it, right here in this tunnel." He said backing away from her and cracking his knuckles, that caused Rose to laugh, in his current state she would whip his ass in second and for that matter it would be like a wiener dog thinking he could move a car. Rose set the bag down and kicked it lightly to the side with some care.

Rose shook her head and offered him a laugh. "Stop busting my balls thinking you could possibly beat me, you know I wouldn't hurt you honey but if I had to for me to make a point then I will, so what will it be, hand to hand, hand to groin, or do I have to shot all around your feet until you come to heel for me, you understand Dragon Boy."

"The only reason that I don't want to fight hand to hand is because you have my kid inside you," Jake growled, all he wanted was for her to see that another kind on top of the one that they were going to have was an idiotic notion. "Don't test your luck."

"Then you'll at least be open to the idea?" Rose asked slowing her attitude down.

Sighing Jake slapped his hands against his sides, he had no choice, she was either going to back him into a corner on this whole idea of adopting another kid, or she was going to brow beat him and quite possibly literally beat him to get him to do it and the only way that he saw out was to say yes. And Jake had to be honest with himself, besides the logistical problems of having six or possibly seven children to raise, it was an idea that he liked, he liked have lots of children. "If I say yes, will you shut up?"

"Yes," Rose nodded with a satisfied smile, and then she walked over slightly to the side to pick up the bag that carried her important payload. "Now, let's get going baby."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**AN:/ Whew! This was a toughie, I had all sorts of problems that I had to deal with and straighten out, but I got it all taken care of for the most part and there are about two things left that I have left to set up for the next story, and then it will all be about the Dark Dragon and we will turn into the endgame of our little adventure here. **

**Please leave a review for me!**

**Oh! and I'm really sad to say this but I've decided to scrap "Beginning" I just let it flow down hill and there was nothing that I could do to save it. If you liked it I'm sorry but I couldn't possibly continue it anyway! as I say again please leave a review. **


	47. The Consequence of Indecision Part 1

**AN:/ Listen here y'all, I've finished the story the entire thing and I've decided to split it into three chapters. This one will deal with the last big pillar of the next story. The next chapter will be the longest of the whole story when our gang gears up to fight the Dark Dragon (Finally!) and the make a surprising move when it comes to the care of their children while this battle is going on. And that last chapter will be the epilogue which will be just slightly shorter than the second chapter in this final story arc. **

**I've planned this very carefully! So stay with me here! **

**Oh …and leave a review …for good measure! **

**Chapter 47**

**The Consequence of Indecision Part 1 **

Haley wondered when she had stopped being herself and took up the job as her brother's house keeper, but seeing as this was perhaps the last safe place to be and she was the last adult person in it besides the Dragon Councilor she would naturally be the one to take care of it. But she would only draw the line at answering the damn phone, taking care of two little babies was something she knew how to do naturally but she could easily break the phone in half. "Excuse me Madam Councilor I have to get that."

"Don't let me keep you." She made an excusing gesture with her hands.

Returning the smile, Haley pulled herself up off of the couch and walked over to the counter and gripped the length of the phone in restrained anger, she was still hung over to a degree. Picking it up, she pressed the answer button and held it up to her ear. "Long Residence, Haley Long speaking."

"…Hello, may I speak with Mrs. Rose Long?" A male voice answered, it was authoritative voice that sounded like was a police officer or a politician.

Haley put her hand on her hip and huffed. "She isn't here right now, I'm her sister in-law and I can take a message and make sure that she gets it."

"I'm sorry Ma'am but this isn't the kind of information that we give out to just anyone," The man responded with an inflection in his voice that matched Haley's irritated one. "Do you when I can call back and reach her?"

Sighing, she bit her upper lip to restrain herself from cursing at the man from the combined effort of her beating and drunkenness. "Look, she should be back within the next hour, I can take down the information, and for that matter who calls at five in the morning just to talk someone?"

"The Central Intelligence Agency Ms. Long," He answered. "And since you want to know so badly, we're interested in recruiting Mrs. Long to work for us here, we've been watching her for years and since she's applied at the New York Police Department she's come back on the radar and now we're not going to give up an opportunity to bring her into the ranks of the CIA."

Haley laughed incredulously, this was a joke, even if the CIA wanted to recruit Rose –which wouldn't be entirely surprising- they wouldn't just let that information fly. "So tell me Mr. CIA man, if you've been watching Rose for years, how long would that have been? Five, six years?"

"Twenty actually," The man responded with a hint of smugness in his voice and there was something to that number that brought an odd chill up Haley's spine. "Yes, we are fully aware of Mrs. Long's …past, and for good measure we are aware of you and your brother's genealogy but don't worry, as long as you and your kind don't pose a threat to the security of this country you will not be in any danger of being exposed or targeted by our Government, so I suppose this is where the questions begin."

"Are we on a secure phone line?" She asked quickly turning to look at the Dragon Councilor who was looking at the family pictures on the wall.

"We're the CIA ma'am, everything is secure." He responded.

"Ok big brother," She answered dryly. "What do you exactly?"

"We know that there are roughly a few thousand dragons in this country at any given time," He responded, and Haley could tell that the man never expected to say those words in a sentence. "We also know that there is a region in the Yellow Sea off the coast of China that has some _anomalous_ affects, so we finally got curious, we ordered an excavation near the recorded boundaries and found some seriously interesting things down there, now can you confirm these things to me?"

"…I don't know what you're talking about." Haley said, too quickly for her to feel safe and she knew that the 'CIA' Agent had caught in a moment.

"Really? I find that curious," He said. "I have a feeling that we'll be seeing each other very soon, just make sure that Mrs. Long gets the message."

Haley laughed in shock. "Oh don't worry guy, she will."

"I know," Haley could practically feel the smirk from her side of the phone and it angered her to no end. "All she has to do is call this number back."

* * *

Jake was brooding, brooding like had hadn't since he was a teenager and with every step that he took in tow behind his wife, it seemed to get deeper and deeper and he knew that he'd explode anytime soon. Just about when he was ready to throw the canister of gas at his wife just out of pure annoyance with her, a ringing came from his pocket. Sighing, he set the bag down and reached into his pocket and grasped his phone, and when he pulled it out he pressed the receiving button and held it up to his ear.

"What do you need Haley, we're sort of busy." He answered impatiently.

"Jake I need to talk to Rose right now." She responded urgently.

He turned and gave Rose and puzzled look and shrugged. "Is there something that we need to know Haley, are my _fucking_ kids alright?"

"Yes, they're safe as can be," She answered sourly. "I need to talk to Rose now, I'll tell her everything and you two can sort it out between yourselves."

Sighing, he walked over to Rose and forced the phone into her hand. It took her a moment for her body to catch up with her thoughts and when it did she held the phone to her ear and cleared her throat. "Haley, what is it?"

"You'll never believe who just called here." Haley said.

"Let me guess …The FBI, CIA?" Rose asked with a laugh in her voice.

Haley laughed, it was a laugh that Rose associated with a crazy person and her sister in-law was certainly sounding like she was indeed off of her rocker with insanity. "You guessed right the second time, a guy called here from the CIA and asked for you, and there's a lot more to this situation the he let on."

"Oh? And answer me this question, why would the CIA call me? The last time I checked, I really haven't had any problems with the Government in over twenty years." She answered as her curiosity was rising with the time passing.

"Rose, this man said he knows about your _past_, and he also said that they've been watching you for more than twenty years," She said in a hurried voice and Rose's face blanched at the number, and then her shock turned into anger quickly. "And he also says that they know about the Magical World."

Her eyes almost bugged out of her sockets, and then she turned to Jake and fixed him with the most frightened glance he'd ever seen on her face. Clearing her throat again, she turned and looked at the stained ground. "There's only one time that I can think of where I could have been exposed, but I'm fairly sure that I covered my ass the entire time …unless… no it couldn't have."

"Are you sure about that, completely sure, because even if that's true, they know about the Dragons and what's worse is this, they know about the Isle of Draco, or at least they know that something is there," She explained and Rose wanted to just faint or wake up and pretend that this whole night had been one bad dream. "You understand that this presents a whole new set of-"

"Ok," Rose stopped her when she had finally forced her way out of the brain freeze that she was in. "Yes it does and Jake and I will talk about this, Haley now that I think about it I can honestly say that there is a …thirty or so percent chance that I could have been caught on my assignment in D.C, so if they call back again, don't doubt that it really is them, what did they want?"

"They want to recruit you." She said with a deep breath.

The voice of the Huntsgirl that seemed to be always in her head laughed, laughed hysterically and Rose couldn't help but giggling herself at the thought of that. Back in her day, Agents of the United States Government were laughable at best and it was almost considered an insult to be associated with them. "Well gee, I think that is the most hysterical thing that I have heard in years, really? They want to recruit me? That'll be hard if I think of accepting."

"What do you mean?" Haley asked, she was growing tired of this.

"Two things, when I was younger, we laughed at FBI and CIA agents because they weren't even close to the effectiveness that we had, and my second issue is my problem with the rules, I'm not used to having a lot of them and I think it'll stifle my ability to get shit done," Rose answered dryly. "Honey, I need to get going, and you should know that Jake and I got the gas and we're coming back soon, now if there is anything else I'd like to trundle out of here."

"Wait! There's more, something happened on the Isle of Draco." She said.

**La Guardia Airport, Queens New York**

Luong believed one thing about all airports, not just American Airports but all airports around the world, the purpose of Airport Security was to make you _not_ want to fly. But he would say this about American Airports, they took the cake in useless and downright insane procedures. However he had to look on the Brightside, he was off the airplane and now he would get to the bottom of all of this hype that his mother had told him about. Luong hoped that she wasn't wasting his time and he really hoped that this wasn't so insane way to get him to the United States.

He had a sixty-forty opinion about his mother, sixty being favorable, but he still couldn't get over the lie that she had gone through with. Perhaps in time, he could forgive her, and maybe they could start working on everything now that he was here. He patted his pocket to try and pull out his cell phone and when he found it, Luong quickly pulled it out.

"Time to pick me up mother." He said to himself as he dialed in the number.

* * *

**AN:/ In my opinion, this potion was sloppily written, but hey I'm not going to complain, I got something out didn't I? Alright, well I'm finally going to introduce Luong into the main fold, I had fun writing out everything that happens to him in the rest of this story. Oh and can I ask your opinion on something, was the CIA wanting to recruit Rose to farfetched? Let me know what you think? **

**Leave a review for me!**


	48. The Consequence of Indecision Part 2

**Chapter 48 **

**The Consequence of Indecision Part II **

Luong hated the big cities, he hated the smell of the car exhaust and just the general noise, but he had to admit that this place was far better than standing in the middle of a market at high noon in Hong Kong surrounded by perhaps thousands of people. Just remembering the smell made him want to vomit, but he shook those thoughts quickly out of his head, he was in America now and they did things differently, they were hygienic for the most part. But New York was beginning to look more crowded as he got closer to it.

From the view of his Taxi, the tall buildings and the almost blinding light of the skyscrapers at night made it look like a city out of fairytales, but that's the description that his mother had given it, he wanted to call it a pit that too many people seemed to anxious to live in. Was he being too cynical? He wondered that as they finally crossed the gap between Brooklyn and Manhattan. If you had just spent a rather long time on a plane that had been re-directed several times, sitting next to sweaty large people and eating some pathetic 'turkey' sub, you'd have a very dry look on life. Goodness he really hoped that his mother had been playing with him, he would really hate that and he was just too tired to kill her at the moment, and even though he would never admit it, he was excited at the same time. He was excited to see his mother's side of the family, he had been told that he had a cousin and he wanted to meet her.

It would be a reprieve from seeing the same faces of his relative's day, and he wondered how different American Culture had formed his mother's side of his family compared to the rigid culture of Chinese Culture. And most of all, he wanted to eat a whole pizza. A smile came to his face at the thought of it, on his birthday every year before his father died his mother had managed to gather the ingredients to make the dish. Least to say this was an amazing feat when you situated in the heart of the _Asian_ continent, and he always looked forward to it, and then his father died. When his father died, the pizza's stopped coming, and it saddened him deeply.

Perhaps that was a petty thing, after all he sure as hell was not going to make it back to China anytime soon, even if he wanted to.

* * *

"The _CIA,_" Rose yelled to Jake who had long phased out her rant, but his ears did perk up at the mention of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. "I hate those snotty pricks, they think that they're bad asses because they wear aviator glasses and carry 10. Millimeters everywhere they go. They're nothing but punk asses, I do a better job with a knife and with a pair of three dollar sunglasses"

Jake still wasn't listening, she could see that and she had to be honest with herself, she could understand why. This had to be the most surreal moment of his life, and it was for her to a certain extent. It had been the first time in her life that she had failed to keep her real identity a secret, it was the first time that she knew that the Government had cracked her outside identity and found the Huntsgirl inside. It almost made her feel violated that they had been keeping tabs on her since then, but she knew that her husband was feeling even worse. "Jake, are you alive, do I need to get a blow dart."

"Does it have any drugs that'll make me forget the past day in it?" He asked slowly.

Rose nodded with head with a clipped laugh. "I think that I can find one if you want."

"N-No, I'm good," Jake took a deep breath in and his brown eyes seemed to come back into focus. "So the CIA, they know about you and me and they know about the past?"

Again the Huntsgirl nodded and took in a deep breath. Actually taking a few moments to collect her thoughts she realized that this had to be one of the most bitter sweet night times of her life. She had killed one person and nearly killed two other, she had confirmed her sixth pregnancy, pushed her marriage to the brink of doom, made up with her spouse, and now she was dealing with toxic nerve gas that could drop thousands of people if deployed correctly. "Yes, and they want to hire me, I've heard that they've been having man power issues in their 'problem areas' which means if it's a real offer and if by some chance I accept, I might be out of town a lot."

"So what you're telling me is, if this is real and not some sort of a half-baked trap, you'll be going to foreign countries with a whole government of people who want to kill you, my wife, the mother of all of my children," Jake prodded her with the last to variations of her name. "Care to name? Are they in nice climates to build death camps?"

"_North Korea_,_ Cuba_, _China_, _Vietnam_,_ Syria_," Rose shrugged listing the names that were one the tip of her tongue. "To paraphrase another one, most of the middle east, parts of Europe and most definitively they'll probably look at sending me into Russia."

Jake's eyebrows furrowed. "I thought that the cold war was over."

"Jake, I might not be in the Government," She began with a terse laugh, realizing that they had gotten off of the topic. "But I have the brains to know that the Russian Federation is run by KGB officers in suits, so they are just as evil as they were when they were the USSR and when they were openly communist, just stating a small fact."

The former American Dragon shook his head. "That's not a very nice thing to say."

"Am I ever nice to people?" She questioned raising a single eyebrow.

"Touché Mrs. Long," He snorted. "So we got off topic, what the hell are we going to do?"

She hesitated and she knew that Jake could spy that facial feature on her from a mile away. "There's a lot more to this than I explained, and it affects us all, would you be surprised to know that there's a Dragon Councilor in our Apartment right now?"

"I wasn't aware that bunch made house calls," He narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "Do tell, so that we can go deal with it."

* * *

"That was your son?" Councilor Nebroshka asked, her voice was laced with a curiosity that only a Dragon Councilor could muster, and why shouldn't she be curious? The Long Family Line just had another branch added to it and if anything Haley assumed that would make the prospects for taking the Dark Dragon down even greater. But somehow she got the feeling that she wasn't just curious.

Haley nodded, her emotions still reeling from hearing that her son was finally in New York. "Yes, I gave him the address and he took a Taxi, and since this is New York I imagine that he'll be here sometime within the next two hours, godamn I hate traffic in this town."

"New York," Nebroshka shuddered. "Try Moscow at rush hour and it's so much more complicated than the American Traffic Laws."

Turning to look at her, she smiled. "You actually know about traffic laws? And more importantly, you own a car?"

"Dragon Long, I may be on the World's Council, but I do have a family both here and in the United States," The Russian woman retorted with a mocking gaze. "I have a son and daughter, my son lives here in the US with his children and my daughter lives in Saint Petersburg, whenever I have free time between sessions of the Council I go back and forth between, but I haven't really in months."

She found that her eyes were beginning to grow heavy, and it wasn't because she was growing bored, it was because she was just exhausted. "And your husband? Whatever happened to him, you don't seem like the type to adopt children."

The other woman laughed airily and flicked a lose strain of hair behind her ear. "I'm not some frigid spinster, my husband's dead, he's been dead for a very long time and I was forced to raise our children alone, it's not my fault that they wanted to live across the globe."

"I wish I could say the same thing for me," Haley responded leaning into the couch and rubbing her face. "I have one son and I'm really regretting the fact that I told him nothing about the Magical World until a few years ago, but I did it out of concern for his father."

"Was he of the xenophobic type?" She asked not caring for a moment if the question itself was as pushy as it sounded in her head.

Haley shook her head. "No, but I never told him because I didn't want to repeat what happened in my childhood and when he died, I guess I realized my mistake of not telling him sooner, Luong never forgave me for that and we haven't talked much since."

"And does he have Dragon Powers?" She asked almost _too _nonchalantly, that was the real question that she had wanted an answer to and it didn't take a brain surgeon to figure that out by just the tone in her voice.

Haley swallowed the lump in her throat, yes, Luong did have the powers of a Dragon and she had only seen them when he was younger. She knew for a fact that he hadn't made a change since then and with that in mind the idiom 'If you don't use it, you lose it' came to mind. However she did know that all of her family members had their powers stripped from them so, even if he had them still, he wouldn't be able to use them until or if they got them back. "Yes, but I have no idea if he can still use them, and I'm not sure if you've heard, but my family had their powers stripped from them so we can't even change. I doubt he'd want to use them anyway."

"I am fully aware of what the Dark Dragon did to the Diamond of Draco," Nebroshka nodded. "My powers are gone to, and the only people that have their powers are the soldiers that he's corrupted and of course himself, so I can sympathize with what you're feeling."

She turned her head and cast an exasperated expression at him. "It feels like a hole's been ripped in you hasn't it?"

"And that you'll never really be able to fill that hole anymore, yes, that's exactly what it is." She sighed almost trying to calm the pain down.

* * *

"The only reason that I haven't tossed the three of you off of the Brooklyn Bridge is because you all could take me without my powers," The American Dragon fumed as she led her in-laws and husband down the apartment hallway. "But rest assured, if you continue to piss me off anymore I'm going to take a chance, now can we shut up and grab something to eat and go and fish my stupid parents out of the sewers."

Erin sighed and ran her hand through her black tresses that were now in a surprisingly elegant ponytail. "Honey, I could take you with your Dragon Powers, blindfolded and with a limp, now if you would please shut up and get over yourself so that I can use the fucking bathroom!"

"Language, don't come down to her level dear." Mark mumbled from Erin's side and that caused her to sigh and nod at him accordingly.

However Alyssa had just ignored them, and as quickly as her mood had shifted, she stormed into her parents home. Johnny, Mark and Erin all shared and glance and walked into the Apartment and much to their surprise, Alyssa was now kneeling, and it was in front of woman who Erin could only describe as being the most elegant she had ever met. Beside the woman was Haley, her face had swelled down and now you could actually see her eyes. "Councilor Nebroshka, you honor us with your presence in our home, but what may I ask-…"

"Cut the crap American Dragon and rise, we don't have time for the formalities." She made a gesture with her hand.

Having her ego hit, she rose to stand and pointedly ignored the looks that she was getting from the three people that she had berated for several hours. Folding her arms across her chest, she turned and stuck her tongue out at Johnny before turning a plastered, stoic expression on her face. "Would this have anything to do with the fact that I cannot feel my dragon powers? Because I think so _Sabrina." _

"Don't get that formal _Alyssa_," Sabrina snorted and winked at Haley who was looking thoroughly amused. "And yes, perhaps thought it would be best if you Aunt explained the situation to you in more detail, you'll understand completely what needs to be done afterword."

Alyssa's face screwed up into a mock smile. "Oh dear _Auntie_ Haley, please tell me why I feel like tearing someone's head off."

"That's the part of you that's your crazy mother talking," Haley quipped causing Erin to stifle a snicker from behind Alyssa. "Speaking of which, your mother gave me permission to hit you again if you start up with that smart assed routine again little girl."

Her large doe-eyes narrowed. "That's so funny that I could vomit, now to use Councilor Nebroshka's words, cut the crap and tell me."

"Alrighty," Haley smiled and put her hands on her hips. "There's so much, now where do we need to start."

* * *

"You two were successful?" Jackie asked as Jake and Rose walked back into the common level.

Rose nodded and motioned to the large black bag that was in Jake's hand. "Yes, when I got down there however the computer told me that someone had tampered with the Vacuum Chamber, I played back the security footage and it showed that Rebecca bitch trying to extract the nerve gas, now I don't know how she could have possibly know where it was but she did and she knows about it."

"What nerve gas?" Daniel asked looking at leather bag in Jake's hand.

The former Huntsgirl scowled at the boy, it wasn't a derisive scowl. It was one of her own confusion. Rose didn't know how much she could trust the boy and she wasn't willing to make a mistake this far into the game and everything mattered when the odds were stacked against them like they were now. "I won't fill you in on all of the details kid, but suffice it to say, if you put this in the ventilation system in a football field you could drop every single person in there and they'd die a pretty painful death. So what are we going to do about these kids?"

"I was hoping that we could leave them with you two until we can get it all sorted out?" Jackie asked with a pleading expression on her face.

Jake chuckled. "I told you Rose, they were going to try and make our home a halfway house for poor little orphans."

"You'll have to forgive him Jackie, he's a little ticked," Rose plastered a smile on her face. "Something's happened, we can fill you in later, but Jackie, we'd be happy to give these kids some place to stay until you can find a place for them. Isn't that right babe?"

She turned and looked at Jake who was seething, but if she knew her husband which she did, she knew that he had just been through a big shock and he'd need a little time to get over it. When she narrowed her eyes and bid him to nod his head, he complied stiffly, almost as if her blue eyes could make his head move. "Yes _sugar lips_."

Rose winked at him and turned back to Jackie, only to find a small little girl with her bright emerald eyes peering from behind Jackie's leg. It didn't take her long to indentify the child as being in the Hutchinson Family, the hair and the eyes. And there was certain facial features that all of them had that made them look similar. She couldn't quite place them all, but it was easy to know. "Is that Marissa?"

"Yeah," Jackie said looking back at the girl with a smile. "I think she's taken a definitive liking to me, wouldn't you agree?"

The girl looked up at Rose and smile spread across her face. "How are you?"

"My name's Rose," She smiled. "And I knew your Mommy, she was a really nice lady to me, you're just as pretty as she was."

Marissa giggled. "Thank you Ms. Rose you're a really pretty lady too."

"Ah, you hear that Jake? I'm a '_Ms._ Rose.'" Rose looked back at Jake with a grin.

Jake couldn't help but let out an involuntary laugh, the girl didn't know right that statement would have been if things had gone down differently tonight. "I'd say she's a pretty smart kid."

The former Huntsgirl winked. "Yeah, so, do you want to come back to my house, I have all kinds of ice cream there?"

"Yeah I do," Marissa's eyes beamed. "Oh Jackie can we go? Please?"

The older woman smiled down at her. "Of course we can dear."

* * *

**AN:/ I thought that I could finish this up in the next chapter, but I was wrong. One more chapter and then the epilogue. As for the next chapter, Rose and Jake will try to deal with the fact that they have about a dozen kids in their home. DJ and Rachel (Their son and daughter, will have their first full scene, I have so much planned for those two *Evil Smirk*) Marissa will talk with Johnny and Erin. Johnny, Erin (Especially Erin) and Alyssa will take some flak from Rose when she finds out what happened in the Hospital. Jake will become very protective of his daughter when he finds out what happened to Alyssa. Daniel will meet Alyssa (Can you see the bigger evil look on my face?) and Luong will arrive. We've got a big agenda for the next chapter, so let's get onto it! **

**And leave me a review! **


	49. The Consequence of Indecision Part 3

**Chapter 49 **

**The Consequence of Indecision Part III **

_If looks could kill, Erica Behrens would have dropped dead. It didn't matter that she was staring down the barrel of a rather imposing shotgun, no. It was the fact that she had pissed off the right hand of the Huntsman and that alone was a big mistake. Erica might have been older than Rose, she might have seen more days then that sixteen year old girl, but that sixteen year old girl had the experience and the knowhow of anyone over thirty. The Huntsgirl had taken out whole villages of Trolls. She had fought off Vampires, Giants, Wizards and most notably Dragons. A woman like her wouldn't have been a problem to take out anyway. _

"_Why don't you put the shotgun down?" Erica said raising her hands higher in surrender_

_Rose glared at her. "Why don't you go fuck yourself Erica? You think you can try and get over me by going to my Uncle? I need to tell him on my own that I'm Pregnant and I'm not going to let some half baked bitch tell him. This baby is really important to me and I need to do it!" _

"_I was just trying to look after you kid," Erica reasoned, her emerald eyes flashing with sympathy. "You meant a lot to Erin, and you two were like family and that makes you like family to me. Do you need anything? Advice? A shoulder to cry on? Just put that shotgun down." _

_It took Rose a moment to begin lowering the gun, it was the longest moment of Erica's life because she knew that Rose wasn't one to threaten someone and not follow through with that said threat. This case was different, something had changed in her and the girl seemed more concerned for the value of life as opposed to getting the mission accomplished. Hell, Erica would be like that if she had gotten pregnant. "What can I do for you Rose?" _

"_Be a listener," She said quietly, tossing the shotgun to the ground with a loud clank. "I don't know what I'm going to do about the father, he's really important to me and I don't want to scare him away. He's not the type of person to hightail it when things get bad, but I think that this time will be different. You don't have a kid but you've dealt with guys like that." _

_Erica smiled and ran her hand through her hair. "Oh yeah, I even had a pregnancy scare a few months back and the guy really got freaked out. I tell you what, if you think that life will be horrible with this kid then why don't you …you know… try and get rid of it?" _

"_As in an abortion?" Rose said, her face contorting in a mask of confusion and irritation. _

"_Yeah, are you comfortable with that?" The older woman asked reaching forward and putting a hand on her shoulder. Hunter's weren't the type of people to touch each other but this was the only way she knew how to comfort the girl in her time of worry and need. _

_The Huntsgirl sighed and turned around, they were in a private conference room in the Huntsclan Academy. It was the room that she had caught Erica making a private message for her Uncle, it was also the room that she had threatened the woman with a very painful death if she ever spat a word of this to anyone. She didn't need word of this getting out until she was ready and until she was sure that Jake's identity couldn't be exposed. Rose loved Jake with all of her heart, but the fact that he wasn't in the Huntsclan alone made it complicated that she was pregnant with his kid, let alone the fact that he was a Dragon. "Yeah, I'm fine with it, but the thing is Erica, I don't want to give this kid up, I want to keep it, but I don't know how I'm go-…" _

"_The Clan let's you raise your children." Erica interjected. _

_Rose scowled at her. "I don't want this kid to …turn out like I have. I want a normal life for it." _

"_That'll be hard to do Rose even for you," She said. "You need to realize that nothing is going to ever be normal with this child. She's going to be incredibly powerful and smart, just like you." _

_If Erica only knew, if she only knew who the father was, yes, she knew that this child was going to be powerful. She would have her strength, skills and brain, while she would also get her father's passion, kindness and all around good naturalness. Rose couldn't wait to meet this child and raise it, but there was the ever present knowing in the back of her mind that she would have trouble raising it even if she got the chance to. "Maybe if it's a girl, she'll get my attitude." _

* * *

While Erin had been a sister to her, Erica had been something of an Older Sister and in that short time between Erin's defection and her pregnancy, they had been close friends. Erica had been more forceful than Erin, she had always taken the bull by the horns as opposed to waiting for the right moment to take the bull down. She would charge in, while Erin would wait in the shadows. In some cases, Erica was more reckless, and Rose had hated that. But every now and then, it was good to have someone who was just like her, cut the crap and get to the point. That had been Erica Behrens's mantra. "Sometimes I miss her you know, she taught me a lot."

"She was always a sweet baby," Jackie reflected looking back at Marissa who was now helping Daniel wake the other children. "And Marissa reminds me of her so much that its painful, hell she reminds me of Erin too. I couldn't tell Erin and Erica apart when they were kids though."

Rose snorted. "The difference is simple, Erica was crazier, and Erin was more calculated and managed. You should be proud of your family Jackie, they are something special."

"Yeah," She sighed with a smile. "A real chip off that Hutchinson Block, look out world."

Again Rose snorted and this time she broke out in a laugh. Turning her gaze back to Daniel, Jake and Marissa, she made a motion for Jackie to follow her so they could talk privately. She needed some advice, and who better to give her advice then Jackie Hutchinson. "That Rebecca, she knows something and I have a feeling that she's going to pop her head up very soon and I don't know what I'm going to do if she comes after me. You got any advice for me Jackie?"

"Watch your back," Jackie said with a stoic expression. "I got that same feeling from her, and if I we're you I'd be prepared to take her out at anytime. You know the policy that she was raised on, if you fail the mission or some vendetta, you don't retreat, you duck and re-load."

"What's she reloading with though?" Rose asked quietly.

Jackie narrowed her eyes. "You said that she was in the safety vault?"

"Yeah, a few hours before Jake and I arrived, I watched the footage myself." Rose responded, walking forward and putting her hands on her hips.

Jackie studied the younger woman's face. "Do you think she knew about it?"

"That's impossible Jackie," Rose dismissed the idea. "She had to either run across it by accident or she ran across it in the archives, but there are only two people alive who knew about the project Erin and myself, that's all."

"And did she discover what its use is?" Jackie questioned.

Rose shrugged. "Hell if I know. Even if she did she can't use it now, I took the last copy of the design prints and the only pathogen left. She's lucky she didn't stick around so I could shove this canister down her throat."

* * *

David Jacob Long was a heavy sleeper and he always, always was up at the crack of dawn. His parents, particularly his father had thought that was the freakiest thing that they had ever seen. Rose however just observed that her first son was more like her than he was like his father and that was the most amusing thing that she had seen. He scratched his head of ruffled up brown hair as he stumbled out of his bedroom, and he was surprised to find that there were people talking, loudly and that never happened.

Annoyed now by all of the noise, he made his way out of the hallway and with one eye bigger than the other he spied his sister. "Lyssa! What-…?"

"Hey baby brother," She smiled at him. "Little man you do get up early, what is it six thirty in the morning? You gotta learn to live a bit DJ."

DJ scowled at his sister. "Mommy says I'm not lazy like you and Daddy are, she's say's I'm more like her and you know what I'm proud!"

"Yeah well …Mom doesn't know how to live either." Alyssa scowled back.

"Who are they?" DJ asked pointing to Erin and Mark who were watching the second oldest Long child with heavy amusement in their eyes.

Erin looked over to Alyssa and then back to DJ with a smile. "I'm an old friend of your Moms. My name's Erin and may I ask your name?"

"David Jacob Long," DJ said proudly. "But you can call me DJ."

Erin winked at him. "Ok DJ, your mom, she say's good things about you, a lot more than she says about your yucky sister over there."

The oldest Long child, who was sitting at the kitchen table, sneered at her mother in-law. DJ in turn copied his sister's facial expression and put his small hands on his small hips. "Alyssa isn't yucky, she's just lazy."

"Hey!" Alyssa shot back, sending her brother mocking glare that he easily returned before he turned his smiling face back up to Erin's beaming one.

"I'm Johnny's mom you know," Erin said squatting down on her legs to meet the boy on his level.

"Yeah, he's a butthead," DJ smiled again before nodding his head and strutting past her and into the kitchen. "Sister can you make me cereal?"

Alyssa smiled brightly and nodded her head. "Sure DJ."

* * *

They looked odd, and Rose thanked the heavens above that it wasn't rush hour. After all, they would have to find their way through crowds of people and at six thirty in the morning things weren't as crowded in the streets of New York. Daniel and Jackie held the four infants, while the older children were following Rose and Jake closely. Rose was worried that someone would be freaked out by the enormous amount of children, but then she remembered that she was indeed New York and the city was full of freakish sight. "You gotta tight hold on the Gas Canister Honey?"

Jake nodded. "I think these kids are just too tired to even give a damn."

"Goodness they're as white as ghosts." She observed, not really wanting it to slip out and when she realized this she almost cursed out loud.

Again Jake nodded. "I know, I think these kids need to spend some time at the beach after this whole thing is over. Don't you think?"

"I think that's a shared thought Dragon Boy." Rose remarked dryly.

* * *

'_60, 61, 62…' _Luong counted in his head as he looked wearily at the golden colored numbers on the apartment door.

He was grasping his bag tightly as he walked down the corridor, and he was so irritated that he could have beaten the hell out of every single inch of the hall. New York Taxi Cab drivers were so rude, they didn't have one ounce of respect and they didn't even help him with his bags. He only had one bag but still, in China, the Taxi drivers were as cordial as they come. When he arrived at Apartment 69 however, his thoughts were knocked to a standstill, he knew that his mother and other members of his family were behind it and he didn't know if he wanted to face it right now. Luong had the urge to run in the other direction and get on the next plane back to China, but he stood firm when his self resolve clamped down. "Alright, you can do this. '_Hi Mom, how are you_?' no …that's too tacky…Hi Mommy, its been-…"

"Luong?" His mother's voice said lightly from behind the door, and then the door opened.

His breath caught in his throat and then he let it out in a choked breath. "…Uh…H-Hi Mom its been-…"

"…awhile, yeah I heard your little monologue from behind the door." Haley smirked warmly at her son.

The boy couldn't help it as an involuntary chuckle came from his lips. "It is nice to see you though."

"You to son," Haley smiled and then she realized that they had been standing out in the hall for several minutes, and the look in his face just made her want to pamper him like all mother's (or at least most of them) would. "Well …eh, you want to come inside? It's just me, your cousins, and a few of your Aunt and Uncle's friends? We have food."

"Do you have Pizza?" He asked as a broad grin came across his face.

"I always knew you were a Pizza freak at heart," Haley laughed. "I think they have some Pepperoni?"

Luong laughed. "That'll do."

* * *

Luong followed his mother's lead into the apartment. It was perhaps the fanciest apartment that he had ever been in and he wondered if his Aunt and Uncle were wealthy. By the pictures on the walls, they had a very large family; he could count perhaps five children. One who appeared to be the oldest bore a striking resemblance to the man, he could only assume that this was the cousin that his mother had talked about. Alyssa, just her name made him smile, he didn't even know her and he was sure that they would get along. "Haley, are you just going to stand at the door scratching you-…?"

"Hello," Alyssa stopped as she marched into the hallway, she eyed Luong with confusion. "Uh, I take it this guy's a friend of yours?"

Haley took Luong's bag from his hand and swatted his hand away when he attempted to take it back. "Yeah, he could be considered a friend of mind, he was ripped from my freaking uterus, so we've bonded to say the least."

"Th-This is your son? Luong?" Alyssa asked smiling at Luong.

Luong smiled just as warmly at her and held his hand out. "I guess that makes us cousins there Alyssa."

"He knows my name?" Alyssa raised her eyebrows.

Haley blushed and looked down at her feet. "I sort of told him about you."

"Oh my," Alyssa grinned before she took Luong's hand and then she pulled him into a tight hug. "We're family Luong, we don't shake hands here."

* * *

**AN:/ God, I can't seem to fulfill my promises. I realized now that I couldn't cram all of the other things in this chapter, but I got everything that I wanted in this chapter so I can save the rest for the next chapter. Which by the way, will be the Epilogue. Don't throw rocks at me? Ok?**

**Leave me a review.**

**Oh and go to my profile and vote in my new poll concerning this series. **


	50. Epilogue

**Epilogue **

He was sweating and he felt like he could just vomit. He knew that it was just the sheer presence of the Dark Dragon but he couldn't help but think that it was the Diamond of Draco and his infused presence within it. Any moment now, the Dark Dragon himself would be arriving on the Isle and he wasn't sure if he would be able to handle that. Edward didn't even know why he was still living if the Dark Dragon had corrupted the Military. Most of the Council was dead, and the command structure of the Military was all under the control of the Dark Dragon so he felt no need to live. But he couldn't quite bring himself to take that plunge and kill himself, no, he would be a coward. But then again, he would always be considered a coward after this.

Edward would always be a coward even if the Long Family could destroy the purest form of evil. He had no doubt that they could kill him, but the question was could they destroy him before he could cause the damage he wanted to in the world. Being the Dark Dragon, he believed that all humans were animals and that their enslavement and destruction was justified. He believed that coexisting was a mistake, and that they shouldn't be in hiding for the sake of mortals themselves. That was something that he didn't believe, he believed that they could wipe his species out in one second.

"Pro Tempore Keeler," The gruff voice of the guard that had been stationed outside of his office barked. "The Master will be arriving within the hour."

He almost couldn't bring himself to say that it was a good thing that the Dark Dragon would step foot in the Council Palace, but he had no choice but to force it out and nod his head shakily at the guard. He knew that they didn't know what they were doing. They were simply acting on impulses caused by the evil affecting their powers and to break that it would either take the death of the Dark Dragon or the destruction of the Diamond of Draco. Both were possible if you had the Long Family in the picture, he had to think that or he would break down and he couldn't afford to break now.

Turning back from the window that overlooked the raging Chinese Sea, he looked at the paintings on the wall. They were perhaps thousands of year's old stretching back to the ages of the Dragon Empire, adorned in gold foiled wood, the depicted ancient battles with the organization that preceded the Huntsclan and battles with the early Huntsclan. But the one of the far right of the line of paintings, near the door was the one that caught his eyes. It was a depiction of the one and only time that the Dragon Council had even been able to confine the Dark Dragon. He was on his knees in the center of the Grand Council Chamber, wrapped in magically enhanced chains.

That had been painted more than a thousand years before, and until twenty five years prior, it had been the last time he had ever made himself known to be on the Isle of Draco. Of course it had been General Jacob Long who at fourteen discovered the Dark one in the chasms under the central volcano of the Island. No one had ever ventured a guess to know how long he had been under there or how he had even gotten there. But the point was that he had been thwarted and kicked off of the Isle and he hoped to any one listening that this time he would be destroyed for good. Then they could get back to business, replace the Council had return to matters of state and he could either go on vacation or enjoy his long dirt nap that he sure to get.

He hoped that Sabrina had made it to New York to inform the Longs of what had happened here so they wouldn't be taken by surprise. There were no communications coming from the Island and even the smartest Dragon could figure something was wrong, on top of the fact that they had their powers stripped. He hoped that most of them were smart enough to stay hidden and away from the gaze of the Dark one. They need to stay alive.

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

Alyssa was amazed to see her cousin digging into a bag of Pepperoni, it was weird honestly but she couldn't imagine living in a country where those things weren't exactly the easiest thing to get a hold of. Another weird thing that she found her cousin doing was the fact that he had wanted to order a pizza at the crack of dawn. She had told him that she'd order him a pizza later because she wasn't entirely sure that Pizza Places, even in New York, were open this early. Over all Luong was a funny guy, he was making jokes about everything left and right and they had all been funny. She thought she had gotten a wit from her mother, but apparently her cousin had her outgunned when it came to humor. She couldn't wait for her dad to get back and see the kid. "So, how was your trip over here Luong? Make you tired?"

That was Erin who had taken an interest in the boy. Luong answered promptly by shrugging and plastering an exasperated smile on his face, they could all tell that he was over doing it, but in all honesty he was very tired and that was due very much to his trip. "I would recommend a trip from here to Australia before an overnight one from here to China any day."

"I'd rather bang my head against the wall." Erin retorted bemused.

Luong smirked. "Try banging your head against a spike strip and putting your head in a toilet and flushing and then you'd feel like I do right now."

"Wow," She commented back. "You must feel like Grade A crap."

"Something like that," He smiled back before looking to his mother. "I was wondering Mom? About you face, you look like you've been attacked or-…"

Haley held up a hand. "My sister in-law is vicious just leave it at that."

"Oh Luong you haven't lived until you've met my parents," Alyssa interjected with a laugh. "My mother is one hell of a woman just ask Aunt Haley, and my Dad, he's like your Mom expect he's a guy and he's stupid."

Haley laughed from across the table and clapped her hands together to somehow praise her niece for the shot at her father. As for Luong, he offered them a small laugh not wanting to get involved in this sort of conversation. When he was younger he was not allowed to even make a joke about family members, but you were allowed to here and he would have to get used to it. "So Cousin, who's the kid in there watching the talking sponge cartoon and eating cereal, is he yours? He's a cute kid."

"Oh no," Alyssa shook her head with a laugh. "He's my little brother. That makes him your cousin too. In fact you have a lot of cousins and another on the way. Not to mention the fact that you have two second cousins."

Erin leaned forward. "They're also my Grandsons."

"I married her son unfortunately." Alyssa remarked dryly.

"That's what he says too," Erin nodded before motioning back to the living room and beyond the child who was glued to the TV, he as well as the other three women could make out two men. "He and my Husband are out there getting some air. This fiery little mess bitched at us for about an hour."

Alyssa's grip tightened on her glass of water. "And do you want me to continue Mommy in-law? Because I'd love to oblige your little request."

"You wouldn't dare with your brother in the other room." Erin retorted with one of the smuggest smiles that Alyssa had ever seen, even from her Mom.

The Younger Woman sneered before turning back to her cousin, who was watching in avid curiosity. "So Luong, got a girlfriend or a wife?"

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

"Remind me again why in the hell I didn't get my tubes tied when I had the chance Jake?" Rose asked irritably as they trudged off of the elevator in their apartment building. She had forgotten of all of the children.

Jackie glared at her. "Rose!"

"Oh sorry," She chuckled sheepishly and then turned back to Jake. "So?"

"I never counted on having more than one kid," Jake shrugged as they continued to walk down the hall. "It's just they kept coming after you came back and I never really thought about asking you to do it. Can we talk about all of this later? We've got these kids with us and even more at home."

Rose nodded her head. "What is it ten till seven? DJ will be up."

"Damn," Jake cursed not even caring that the kids were listening to their conversation. "Ok, well that means he'll be bursting with energy."

A little boy, who Rose guessed couldn't be older than five years old, looked up to her and raised a thick eyebrow in curiosity. "Lady? Who's DJ?"

"He's my Son," Rose answered with a smile. "He's about your age."

"Is he nice?" The boy asked again.

Rose snickered to herself, no, he was a total smartass when his father wasn't around and the little boy reminded her so much of herself. "Yeah, once you get to know him he is. I'm sure he'd like to be friends with you."

"I don't want to be friends with him, I wanted to know if was nice," The boy continued with a cute scowl on his face that made Rose laugh. "Finding out the weaknesses of others is the key to defeating them in the battlefield."

The Huntsgirl in her mind laughed. "And you know the second key?"

"What?" He narrowed his eyes.

"Never underestimate your opponent because of their weaknesses," She smugly bunched up her face in a smirk. "In fact you cannot count on those weaknesses because they could be a ploy for defeat. Let me tell you, once I was tracking this Dragon, he seemed like a total moron. But then I found out who he was as a human and he was very smart among other things."

Rose looked over to Jake who wore a smile on his face and then with a wink she looked back at the kid. "Never judge a book by its cover kid, don't do it."

"Did you slay this Dragon?" He asked forgetting his annoyance with her.

"No," Rose shook her head feeling her husband's eyes burn in the back of his head. "But he did slay me, and you know what I'm happy he got me."

The former Huntsgirl could almost hear the smile on Jake's face. "But lady you're alive? How could that Dragon beat you if you're still alive right now?"

"That's a conversation for another time kid," She commented before stopping outside of the door to their apartment. "We're back at my house."

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

Johnny was getting along with his stepfather quite well actually and as he stood outside on the balcony looking out at the rising sun, he wondered what life would have been like if he had been raised by Erin and Mark instead of his father and the Huntsclan. Life certainly wouldn't be what it was at the time, he more than likely would never have met Alyssa or her parents and she wouldn't have needed to know where his father had come from. But he had and he hadn't been protected by his mother when he was younger and that was causing some sort of deep seeded pain to show itself after all of these years. Seeing Erin hit his wife in the Hospital must have set it off, even though he was fully aware of the fact that Alyssa had baited his mother.

His mother was supposed to be strong enough to not take that bait, she wasn't supposed to be someone who could stoop so low as Alyssa could or Mrs. Long for that matter and it had made him upset that she did. But what he didn't understand was the fact that afterwards, his wife had begun to act so hostile to him. Wasn't this what she wanted? Him to hate his mother? And when finally did openly hate his mother, she gave him shit for it. It just didn't make sense at all. "What is it about Alyssa, Johnny? She's not Sandy Dee."

"That's for sure," Johnny laughed. "I really don't know, I wasn't exactly the most popular kid in school and I had always had a crush on her, and imagine my surprise when my father sends me on a mission to kill her father. It was stupid to even think that I could but that's what brought us all together."

Mark chuckled and looked down at the early morning traffic that was developing down on the streets. "So that's the story? A kid like you not having a girlfriend in High School, that's kind of hard to believe."

"We got together near the end of Freshman Year," Johnny smirked at all of the memories that they shared. "So she was my girlfriend in High School, she's the mother of my kids and she's my wife. But no, I'm fully aware that she isn't a saint and that she's manipulative and foul mouthed, but if she isn't pissed off she's one of the most loving, funny and caring people ever."

Again from his side Mark laughed, but his laugh stopped short when the door to the Balcony slid open and speak of the devil, Alyssa stepped out. Turning to shut the door behind her, she folded her arms across her chest and it had seemed like a long time since he had seen a playful smile on her face. He knew from the look on her face that she had totally calmed down from her bitch fit earlier, and he wondered if she was here to apologize.

"How are you guys doing?" Alyssa asked with a single raised eyebrow.

"Just talking about guy stuff you know," Mark answered cheekily. "Football, Barbeques and our wives, speaking of wives I have a feeling mine wants me to go in there so I'll leave you two alone. Johnny just scream if you need help."

Johnny smirked. "I'll do that."

It took a few moments for Mark to leave, and when Alyssa heard the sliding door behind them shut. She walked forward and took Mark's place beside her husband. "Sorry about …you know calling you an idiot earlier."

"It's alright," He smiled at her. "I deserved it for driving with a broken arm."

Alyssa nodded. "Yeah you did but still I'm sorry for calling you that."

"Why are you out here Lyss? For some half hearted apology?" He asked.

"No," She stepped forward and lightly stroked his cheek. "I'm here to actually apologize to you, now it took me a lot to get the guts to come out here but if you still want to be shitty about it then by all means I'll go back inside."

Not being able to take it anymore, he laughed and with his good arm, he slipped it around the woman's waist and pulled her to him. His heart warmed when he heard her choking down the same laughter, and he knew then that whatever doubts he had about Alyssa were half hearted. Johnny wanted to spend every day with her, and he knew then that he would love her until the day that he died. "What is it? Cat got your tongue?"

"Nope," He smiled down at her. "You can have it if you'd like."

Alyssa threw her head back with a laugh, "God damn that's a cheesy line."

"Did it work though?" He smirked raising a single eyebrow.

"Yes it did." She smiled before reached up and kissing him.

… … … … … … … … … … … … …

"Ah, Jake doesn't that just want to make you vomit?" Rose quipped as she and her husband watched their daughter and son in-law kiss. Apparently neither of the two outside could notice Jake and Rose, and the two inside wished that they'd get a room and save them from seeing their relations.

Jake scowled and he really had the familiar urge to rip Johnny from piece to piece for groping his daughter. But he couldn't, Alyssa would never forgive him for killing her husband and on top of that, Erin would probably go crazy on him from killing her son. So he'd have to stomach it for the time being, but her really hoped that they'd just stop. Walking forward to the large window, he tapped on it and that caused the two to break apart. Then he made a beckoning motion with his finger, and they instantly flushed like two teenagers and walked to the door. Rose couldn't help but laugh.

Ignoring whatever her Husband was about to do, she spied her son in the living room and keeping intently quiet with all of her skill she tip toed to the back of the couch. Just as she was about to scare the hell out of him by ruffling his head, DJ turned and spied his mother with a cocky smirk.

"I knew you were there," He smiled. "I heard what you to Daddy."

Rose raised an eyebrow. "Was I that obvious?"

"Mhmm." DJ smiled before handing his mother the cereal bowl.

Sighing, she took the bowl from his hands and with her other hand ruffled his hair. "You know you're just a little twerp."

"So are you mom." DJ shot back with a snicker.

… … … … … … … …

Walking into the kitchen with a sigh, she wondered why they had all fallen silent. And then she noticed a boy sitting next to Haley, she had never met him before and she got the distinct feeling that she knew him or at least knew his relatives. She saw the way that he seemed to cling to Haley even though he wasn't physically touching her and it didn't take long for her to see the resemblance between the two and she even saw her husband in the boys face.

Going past the kitchen table, she made her way to the sink and lightly ran water through it. "So Haley? I take it that this is your Son?"

Haley's eyes widened. "Yes, how did you guess so fast?"

Rose shrugged before turning around and flashing a knowing smile at Erin. "I have that intuition, so Luong I'm your Aunt Rose. I'm pleased to meet you."

"Likewise." was all he managed to say.

"Haley, where is Councilor Nebroshka?" Rose asked with her hands on her hips. Haley knew that they needed to get this talk over with as soon as possible and that they would be going to the Isle of Draco very soon.

"She's getting some sleep," Haley answered back. "I hope you don't mind."

Rose shook her head. "No, it's alright, she's a lucky bitch anyway."

"When are we going to decide what were going to do about what's going on, on the Isle of Draco?" Haley asked setting aside the urge to chide Rose about using that kind of language around her son. But then she thought that he was grown and he probably used it more than she did as most kid do.

The former Huntsgirl didn't know what they were going to do, all she knew was that they were back here to catch their breaths, get some equipment and go and get it over with. They didn't know if they were going to come back from this but all of them wanted to assume that they would make it out of their alive and they would never had a problem. "I don't know, you can bitch to Jake about it but I need to get some things ready, Erin, I need you to get Johnny and Jackie and meet me in my _special room_. Understand?"

"Do we get to play with Assault Rifles this time Mommy?" Erin mocked in a high falsetto voice, all Rose did was smirk back at her nod.

"And some grenades if your good." Rose smiled.

… … … … … … … …

Jake leered holes in his daughter and son in-law, for the first time he was speechless. It bothered him greatly that they were just out on the balcony sucking face while the rest of the world was slowly going to hell. When his daughter offered him a sheepish smile, he left eye began to twitch almost comically. "You two have a lot of nerve just standing out here and making out when we have a lot to do. Now I know that I can't tell you what to do damnit but I would expect you of all people to know that we can't be distracted from our goal. Now I need you two to walk back in there, and get ready for our planning, Johnny you might not be coming after all."

"And why not exactly, I can shoot?" Johnny protested indignantly.

"Because I need someone to stay here and watch the kids, because I'll be damned if I leave them here alone with Mark," Jake snapped feeling rage flare up. "I mean I don't know the guy and I'm sure he's good with kids but I don't want to leave them alone with strangers and you have a fucked up arm anyway so you're staying here with the children, are we clear?"

Alyssa looked down at her feet. "Yes Daddy."

"I guess so Mr. Long…" Johnny said with a resigned sigh.

"Good," Jake said with another admonishing glare. "Now get inside!"

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

Rebecca had always been one to deal with the children, she dealt with them going to the bathroom and feeding them. He however had dealt with their problems when it came to personal issues and their concerns. Daniel wasn't prepared to babysit these children. All of them stood in a line outside of the bathroom door while they waited, the infants had been changed and where now in a spare crib that had been set up, and Daniel was still playing babysitter to the bulk of them. He gave Marissa a coy smile. "What's up?"

"I need to go pee!" The girl whined which caused him to laugh at her.

"Your next," Daniel remarked. "All you have to do is hold it for a few-…"

"Am I interrupting something?" a soft but firm voice interrupted them.

Both Daniel, Marissa, and the other two children waiting in line looked up into the soft eyes of Alyssa Long. If Daniel wasn't so painfully aware that this was the Huntsgirl Daughter, he would have let his jaw drop. But that didn't keep him from starting at her. The girl must have noticed it when a flush appeared over her face and he had to bite down the urge to say how unbelievably beautiful she was. "Uh …I'm Daniel and y-you are?"

"Alyssa," She winked at him. "My Mom told me about you."

"All good things I hope?" He asked with a sheepish grin.

The American Dragon snickered. "Sure, she's always the one to complement."

"Damn," Daniel said nervously as he scratched the back of his head. "So, you're the daughter of the Huntsgirl, I have to say you look exactly like her."

Alyssa raised an eyebrow. "Is this some half baked attempt to hit on me?"

"Yeah, but I just told you that you're as hot as your mother is that-…"

"Creepy? Yes, and rather disgusting too," Alyssa rolled her eyes. "Listen, my mom wanted you to meet her in the living room, she drafted me to take over bathroom detail. I think you get to play with some very big guns."

Daniel smiled to himself. "Ah, finally some excitement."

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

"We all have the ability to shoot these weapons," Rose began as Jackie, Erin and Daniel walked into the room. "But-…Wait where in the hell is Johnny?"

Erin raised her hand, she had to choke back a snort when to anyone else it would look like a teacher calling on a student. "I think your husband told him that he had to stay behind to look after your kids. Do you want him in here?"

Rose nodded vehemently. "Of course I do, he may not be able to have use of both of his arms but I'm pretty damn sure that he can shot a pistol."

"That's what I said." Erin sighed and turned to leave the florescent light room.

"Who's Johnny?" Daniel asked not really knowing what was going on and as a member of the Huntsclan he had the urge to know everything that was going to go around him. Rose fixed him with an irritated glare and put her hands on her hips and to know her, you knew that this was her patented death glare.

"He's my indigent son in-law, he married my daughter. You know the bratty girl who looks like I do?" Rose asked blowing her bangs out of her forehead.

Daniel chuckled and nodded his head. "Yeah, I had a run in with her."

"Let me guess," Rose observed. "You tried to hit on her?"

"How did you know?" He asked thoroughly confused.

"It happens a lot," The Huntsgirl smiled, before turning to Jackie who was fiddling with one of her detracted knives. She almost had the inclination to warn Daniel to move the hell out of the way, because their conversation had implied that the kid that they had met in the sewer was going to steal his Grandsons wife. "Just don't do it in front of my husband, he'll kill you."

"Not to mention the fact that my daughter and I will double team you."

Daniel and Rose turned to look at Jackie who was now grasping Rose's favorite knife. "Jackie, don't use that one, that's my favorite knife."

"Don't worry Rose," Jackie set the knife back down. "I'll use my bare hands."

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

"So," Jake said sitting down at the kitchen table and eyeing his Nephew from across the table. "You're Luong, as your Mom has probably already told y-…"

Luong laughed and looked over to his mother who was staring down at the table with some sort of embarrassment in her eyes. Wondering what his sister could possibly be embarrassed about, he eyed her teasingly but he didn't get a chance to ask her what was wrong. "Mom's just embarrassed because she talked you and Alyssa up for years, she always wanted me to meet you two and I think she's embarrassed because she doesn't like that she praised you."

"Yeah, I can understand that." Jake smirked at his sister who replied in kind by lifting her hand up and flashing her brother the middle finger.

Scowling, he leaned forward. "Well right back at you sister, I can honestly say that I never talked that well about you or dad, in fact I talked shit about you."

"What?" Luong asked looking over to his mother with a raised eyebrow.

"Long story Son, now isn't the time, right Jake?" Haley sternly asked.

Jake nodded. "I cannot believe that you never told him the story about what his Grandfather did. But your right Haley, we can tell him later."

"I have to say I've met the weirdest the strangest people in my life in the past twenty minutes. I can't believe I'm even related to you people." The young man huffed before sinking back into his chair and eyeing his mother.

At that both Haley and Jake laughed, the both were thinking the exact same thing. They knew that this kid didn't know the half of what their family could dish out on the weird shit meter, and Jake didn't know how much the kid would be willing to accept. The moment they got their powers back, would he have a heart attack, or would be accepting and perhaps want to see his own if he had them at all. "That's what a lot of people have said Luong."

"But they're all either dead, imprisoned or they ended up having children with us, with exception of me of course," Haley remarked dryly. "Jake's the one who liked to fraternize with the enemy of course, he had five kids with her, one when they weren't even eighteen and four more in the past three years."

Jake smirked. "Not to mention another one on the way."

He laughed, his Uncle had the look of some sort of self satisfaction on his face and even though he would never say it out loud, it was well deserved. The male parts of his brain were congratulating his Uncle one being able to have …that… as a wife. He was amazed at the perverted thoughts that were now coming to his head, and almost as if Jake could hear his thoughts, an amused smiled came over his face. "I know what you're thinking, and yes, I'm lucky."

"Luong, you know that's your Aunt?" Haley remarked incredulously.

The boy nodded his Aunt. "I know, but Mom I'm guy, and she's not blood."

"But she is my wife not to mention the mother of your cousins so don't get all cocky," Jake said with a good hearted but serious look. "I don't want to hurt my only nephew for getting too overzealous with his _Auntie_."

Luong put up his hands. "Don't worry Uncle Jake, I'm not that sick."

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

The sight was comical, in Rose's Armory, Johnny, Jackie, Erin and Daniel were all looking as Rose was literally petting a large AR-15, petting it as if it were a long lost friend or a pet. Being the Huntsgirl, she had worked with all sorts of weapons, but Assault Rifles hadn't been one of them. Sure she had used them, but only in very seldom circumstances. Rose found that she could get a lot more done with just a pistol then a full on automatic weapon.

"I don't keep very many of these babies," Rose said looking at the large gun in admiration. "But I have enough of them for us to use, Jake, Alyssa, Haley and maybe Luong will have to use something else but we have the AR's."

"Yay," Erin smiled before she turned to her mother. "Been awhile for you?"

Jackie nodded. "These are new models, I used the first version of them."

"They're not exactly new Jackie," Rose commented grasping the barrel of the large weapon and handing it over to the Huntress. "These models have been around since 1979, you would have used the 1964 brand if I'm correct?"

She narrowed her eyes and nodded stiffly. "Yes, and thank you for making me feel older than the rock that this town was built on Rose."

"Mama, you're not older than then the bedrock," Erin commented lightly before turning to her other side and winking at her Son, who returned it with a heavy nod. "You're just older than some fossils and yes, the dodo bird."

Jackie narrowed her eyes into slits and smacked her daughter painfully on the back. "You are such a smart ass sometimes Erin."

"Where are the smaller guns Huntsgirl?" Daniel asked her direct right.

Rose began to walk past Erin, Jackie and Johnny to the row of drawers behind them. Bending over, she grasped the bottom handle and pulled it out, then she repeated the process with a drawer in the center of the stack of them and turned to make a sweeping gesture with her hand. "Here you are Daniel, I have enough weapons to stock a small army, and don't you dare ask how I have these things. The point is, I have a rather large selection. Colt, Beretta, Smith and Wesson and Brown, all classics."

"And do you have new ones?" Daniel said stepping forward and looking at the drawers that were filled to the brim with guns and ammunition clips.

The Huntsgirl nodded. "I do, but those are in my favorite collection and they aren't for use by anyone else but me. But I will let you use my snipers."

Daniel followed Rose's finger in the direction it was pointing and saw the line of large weapons standing on rack in the corner of the room. "I've got plenty of them and if you are a good sniper, feel free to take one and use it."

"Are you kidding? I was the top of my class when it came to range shooting, I'd be happy to be a look out for you," Daniel smiled brightly before proceeding in that direction. "Where's the round clips?"

"In a box under the rack," Rose answered before turning to Johnny and casting a speculative glace. "I know your good with shooting one handed, your blessed father knows that, what do you want for a weapon?"

"Just give me a Beretta and I'll be fine." Johnny said quietly avoiding the gazes of his Mother, Mother in-law and Grandmother at his quietness.

Erin looked over at her son. "Is there something bothering you son?"

"I'm fine _Erin_." Johnny said tersely with fire in his eyes.

Rose narrowed her eyes. "Johnny, she's your mother for godsake and you say her name like it's a freaking curse or something. Have some manners."

"Well she's the bitch who hit my wife in the head with a tray-…!" Johnny stopped his rant as soon as he realized what he had said and he knew that he had just signed his mother's death warrant if Haley was any example.

In the rarest thing that anyone had ever seen her do, Rose dropped the ammunition clip that she was holding. What was most frightening about it was the fact that her eyes had narrowed to dangerous slits, then she turned stiffly to Erin with murder flashing in her eyes. "_What did you do_?"

"Rose it was nothing, she was baiting me." Erin put her hands up.

"She baited Haley to but I still beat the hell out of her, so what is stopping me from planting my foot up your ass." Rose growled dangerously as she stepped forward taking her time to prepare for what was to come.

But her momentum was stopped, and it came from the most unexpected but likely source. A cold barrel of a gun was pressed to the Huntsgirl's temple and Jackie's hand was dangerously on the trigger. Rose's eye twitched with unparalleled fury before putting her hands up in surrender and turning to the older woman. "Do you have a problem with me kicking your ass too Jackie?"

"Take one more step towards my _daughter_ and you'll have a bullet in your skull before your heel hits the ground," Jackie sneered pressing the gun tighter into her temple. "Now, we can all work this out rationally without anyone getting hurt. But I'm not going to let you work Erin over."

"Try it old woman and see what happens," Rose snarled one last time before turning back to look at Erin. "You tell me what the hell went on, NOW!"

Erin looked down at her feet. "She started saying things that are really touchy with me. All the shit about Paul and what happened back then and I let her get the best of me, I'm sorry Rose I am. I should have controlled-…"

The younger Hutchinson woman didn't get to finish her explanation as the Huntsgirl stormed out of the Armory. She was still pissed at Erin, don't mistake that, but she wanted to have a word with her daughter to. On top of that she wanted to dig into her daughter for almost driving her to attack her best friend and her best friend's mother. Oh, this was going to end badly.

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

"Alright you little monsters, we have Orange Juice, Milk, Grape Juice," Alyssa told the horde of children including her own brother as they stood in the kitchen. "We do have soda but you're not going to have any of it, now I want all of you to make a line, those of who want OJ over there, Milk right in front of me, and Grape Juice, next to them. We'll get to food in a minute."

Jake, Luong, Haley and Mark watched the girl handle the seven children with humor in their eyes. But they all turned when Rose came stomping through the room and directly to Alyssa, ignoring the surprised glances from the kids and the people at the table, she grasped her daughter roughly around the wrist and pulled her away. As they left the kitchen, Jake's ears perked back with fear when his wife began screaming for him to follow.

"Can you handle them," Jake asked motioning to the children and when they nodded, he shot up from the seat and bolting after them. "Yes dear."

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

Erin, Jackie, Daniel and Johnny stood around awkwardly as Jake, Alyssa and Rose flew into the Armory. Rose was positively seething and both her friend and daughter and she didn't really know how she was going to do this civilly, she was almost certain that she would be stopped from kicking her daughter's ass, and if she attacked Erin, Jackie would kill her. Putting her hands on her hips, she snarled at Alyssa. "Alright Alyssa, what the hell did you say to Erin to make her hit you in the head with a metal tray?"

"Oh hell no," Jake hissed at Erin. "You did not attack my daughter!"

As she did a few moments ago, Erin looked down at her feet. "Yeah I did."

"Look Mom, Dad, It was nothing, I'm over it and I'd like to think that Erin is over it," Alyssa put her hands up attracting her parents attention her way from Erin. "Now we can't do this shit right now. We need to focus-…"

"The hell we won't Alyssa," Jake yelled with uncontrollable fury. "You do not attack my daughter. I was stupid to let my sister get away with it, but a total stranger that shit will not fly with me. You better get ready for it Bitch!"

Rose and Jake were seething now, and the only sounds in the room were their heavy breathing. Rose was just hanging on by the thread that Jackie was holding together by the barrel of a gun, and Jake, he didn't know why he wasn't clawing Erin in pieces already. "Daddy, this isn't going to make things better. We need to all be at the Isle of Draco, afterwards we can kill each other, but now isn't the FUCKING TIME FOR IT! SO SHUT UP NOW!"

That seemed to do it for Rose and she knew that Alyssa was right, she felt her heart rate steady and her breathing return to normal within a few moments later. Turning to her husband, she put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it lightly. "Lyss is right Jake, we can deal with Erin later but we need to move now. The Dark Dragon is getting stronger every minute."

With a deep sigh, he looked down at his wife and nodded. "Right, but this isn't over Erin, not by a fucking long shot! Do you understand me!"

"I don't expect it to be." Erin said avoiding the gazes of the whole room.

Jake sighed again and looked down at the floor before looking back at Rose with a stoic gaze. "I need you to get all of your shit together. I'll go set the rules down for the kids and talk with Councilor Nebroshka, she's gonna help me set up a portal that'll get us into the Council Palace, is that okay?"

"Yes," Rose nodded with a reluctant smile. "Let's go kill that Son of a bitch."

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

As of this moment, he and the Dragon Soldiers were the only ones who had retained their Dragon Powers. Keeler and all of the other Dragons around the world had theirs stripped and for the time being it would stay that way until he could directly control the Diamond of Draco. This was the first time that he had stepped foot in the Dragon Council Palace in two thousand years, and at that time it was the Imperial Palace. He remembered it fondly because this is where he had condemned the Last Dragon Emperor to death and taken that plunge into the Darkness that was with him to this day.

In another life his name was Janus, and he had been the very first in the long line of Pro Tempore's of the Dragon Council. And he had been the first and only one every to have a death mark placed on his head. It was all because of Emperor Draco, it was because of the fact that he had infused the purest of all Dragon Blood with the elements that had formed a Diamond. Not only had this secured the purest of all blood from running dry, but it had stopped _him_ from ever gaining direct control of the Council and the species. But today was the last day that it would ever be that way. In a matter of hours he would control the Diamond personally, but first he would have to deal with the pest that seemed to be the only thing in his way.

The Long Family, the brood that descended from his ancient enemy Emperor Draco. And they were the only ones, the only ones who could ever kill him.

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

"_Jacob," Nebroshka whispered. "Things are worse then you realize, Edward Keeler has allowed the Dark Dragon to enslave his mind and he forced him to interact with the Diamond of Draco. The Dark One's power is now infused with it and that is the reason behind the loss of our powers. On top of killing the Dark Dragon, you must make sure that he himself never touches it." _

_Jake blinked once. "But he was in Keeler's mind and he made Keeler to-…" _

"_He was able to infuse his power, but if he ever physically touches it, the power of the Elders will be broken and he will become the purest of us all and there will be no hope of stopping him," She said walking forward and placing a hand on the former American Dragon's cheek. "You and You alone need to kill him, your wife, family and friends will be crucial for you to get there, but you must deliver the death blow, for the sake of your family." _

_He shook his head vaguely remembering this from some strange dream that he had. "For the sake of my family? If we fail, we'll all be dead anyway." _

"_Two Thousand Years ago, your ancestor Emperor Draco swore to his ancestors the Imperial Elders that his family would never stop nor rest in peace while the Dark Dragon still lives," She said quietly to him as he absorbed the shock of what was happening. "If you do not kill him, and if all of your family dies before he's dead than twenty generations of your family will never enter Heaven. I'm sorry that you never knew about this before." _

_He wanted to drop to his knees from the pressure of this burden that he carried, his mother, grandfather, wife, children, sister and nephew, and all of the countless thousands that were a part of his family tree, all lost in limbo after two millennium of waiting. "I can't believe Grandpa never told me." _

"_Lao Shi didn't want to burden you," Sabrina said in a hushed, mirthless voice. "He believed that the Dark Dragon wouldn't be an issue for your family let alone the world in so many years. I am so sorry that you carry the weight, but you've done harder things and this should be no different." _

_Lowering his head and looked at his feet. "I won't fail you." _

"_I know you want," She said. "General Long, be efficient." _

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

"Alright," Rose spoke to the crowd of children that had gathered around in the living room. "No rough housing, no fighting, no planning people's destruction. No Ice Cream, no Cookies, no Soda, no Long Distance Phone Calls and please, please no going in my room, which means you DJ."

The little boy put his hands on his hips and pouted. "What about Rachel, Jack and Brian? If they haven't heard the rules they'll be breaking them!"

"That's why Councilor Nebroshka and Mark are here to watch you guys," She smirked and pointed back to the man and the woman who were looking down at them with amusement. "You'll listen to them while we're gone, tell your sister and nephews that we love them and we'll be back before lunch."

And as if on cue, the purple swirling vortex that would take them to the Isle of Draco opened up behind them. With one last wink to her Son, she turned and picked up the duffle bag full of weapons, and we joined in that motion by all of her companions that were carrying weapons. Rose wondered if this would be the last time she would ever see her Son, she debated for a moment if she should go back, hug him, give him a kiss and tell him that she loved him before she left. But that was quickly overridden when she reached the portal and she was thrown into high velocity transformation.

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

The Dragon Guard grunted in boredom, the Dark Dragon had already made his way through the Council Palace and now he was back to guarding basically nothing. He knew that he was selling his soul and he had tried to resist it, but he couldn't and now he was going to be condemned to a life of servitude to the evil one. Pacing the length of the Grand Anti-Chamber, he taped his spear on the marble floor in some half hearted attempt to amuse himself. He wondered at that moment what his wife and children were doing.

And then his ears perked back at a slight twitch in the still air in the room and then he turned on his heel to face the source of the sound. When he saw nothing but a shadow of one of the individual pillars, he grasped his spear and marched forward with a goal. If he was going to serve the Dark Dragon then he had better fill his time with something. But his thoughts stopped cold when a metal projectile flew through the room and right through his skull. The last image he would ever see was Rose Long, approaching him.

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

Rose let her bag drop and motioned the others forward, Jackie, Erin, Alyssa, Johnny, Jake, Daniel, Haley and Luong followed her order and dropped their bags. Slightly pushing the body of the Guard to the side, she unzipped her bag and rifled through it for a moment. "We're lucky that didn't create too much noise. In about twenty minutes the next set of guard will be walking through here and they'll put the Palace under alarm. We need to move."

"Y-You killed him." Luong stuttered not taking his eyes off of the body.

The Huntsgirl glared at the boy. "Shut up kid! You have to get used to it, I have killed a lot of people and I'm sure that count will be up very soon."

"I'll explain later Son," Haley said running her hand through her hair. "If I remember the layout, we are about a half a mile from the Council Chamber."

"He's not going to be there," Jake said pulling several weapons out of the bag he had set on the floor. "He's going to be in the bunker level and Haley you wouldn't have known about it. It was built about a year after the Huntsclan had stolen the Diamond of Draco, there are two ends of it, one is the Council Bunker that is virtually impenetrable apart from walking into it and the other is the Diamond Bunker that is laid with heavy booby traps."

Rose stood up and kicked the bag closer to the pillar so that it could be covered by the shadow of the large marble pillar. Tossing her hair back, she put the large stain of ammunition around her neck and thumbed the AR rifle safety off. Then making sure that her two pistols were securely fastened in their holsters, she watched as the other members of the team made sure that they had their weapons. She observed dully that Haley had to make sure that her son had everything he needed. "There are nine of us, I, Erin, Daniel and Johnny will be together while, Jake, Haley, Alyssa, Luong and Jackie will be together, my team will take the Council Chamber and Jake's team will take the Diamond Chamber. We can't fuck up at this point."

"What about the nerve gas?" Erin asked loading her weapon with a clip.

"Last resort," Rose said. "I said when I brought it up that it would be a last resort and if all else fails, we'll use it, but we're not at that point just yet."

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

Apparently when Keeler had infused himself with the Diamond, he had forgotten to deactivate the traps. This infuriated the Dark Dragon because he was now waiting painfully for the Guard to slowly dismantle everything one by one. He had to fight down the urge to tear the heart out of the deposed Pro Tempore, Keeler still had his uses and he would use him until every last one of them were completed. Bathed in a flowing black cloak that shielded him from the lights and the guards from seeing his face, he narrowed his eyes and folded his arms across his chest in frustration. And then a ticking went off in the back of his mind, and then he turned to the direction of the entrance of the bunker complex. A smile, a wicked smile came across him pointed lips. His company was here, at last he could begin his fun.

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

It had been a very long time since she had killed a dragon, and it brought up so many old feelings that she loved. Rose knew that she was killing innocent people, but they were under the control of a mad man whose sole mission was to kill her family and that made them guilty. So she simply charged through, one by one sniping them through the head with one bullet. It was almost too easy for her, it was strangely easy. These were the easiest things that she had ever killed. "Jesus Christ, you need to save some for us."

"Sorry," Rose turned back to them with a smile. "I have a lot of pent of frustrations with Dragons and hey they're trying to kill me so I should do it first. Are you having fun with that Sniper Rifle there Daniel?"

The Boy scowled at her. "It'd be a lot more fun if I could use it."

"Well, on the other side of the door right over there," Rose motioned with her hand to a wooden door ahead of them, and then she pointed upwards to a window sill that was at least two stories above it. "I'm expecting there to be a lot of guards, now if you can somehow climb up there, you can take out as many Dragons as you want. God somewhere Paul's head is exploding."

Erin narrowed her eyes with that. "What make you say that Rose?"

"He always wanted to see me take out half a palace of Dragons," Rose retorted ejecting her empty cartridge magazine and replacing it easily from her supply that was on her chest. "I really hope the others are having luck."

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

"Fuck." Haley cursed driving the butt of her weapon into the head of an incoming guard and when she prepared to fight the Dragon what was three times her size, he was taken down by the steam of bullets from Jackie.

Jackie winked at Haley before aiming her weapon at another charging Dragon and taking it out with amazing ease. It wasn't long before the entire room that they had cleared out smelled of Gun Powder and just general carnage. A moment passed before Jackie ejected the clip from her weapon and replaced it. "Jake this was too easy," Jackie commented. "Way too easy."

"I know," the former American Dragon responded. "I have a feeling that-…"

"We're being set up." Jackie finished.

And that was when a dark chill went up all of their spines. Jake knew in his gut that the Dark Dragon was coming for him, and that the time would come soon for him to fight that evil being. "I need you to go on ahead and clear out the rest of the corridor. The Dark Dragon is coming for me."

"Daddy," Alyssa said lowering her gun. "I'm not going to leave you here."

"I'll be fine baby girl," He smiled trying to up on a best face for his daughter and he could tell that he was scared. "You just get somewhere safe."

Alyssa thought that this was going to be the last time she saw her father if they split up. If the Dark Dragon had his powers and her father did not, then that Gun was the only thing standing in the way of his death. Rushing forward she wrapped her arms around her father's torso and squeezed as hard as she could. She nuzzled her head into his chest when she felt his hand snake around and lightly pat her on the back. "I love you Daddy."

"I love you too Alyssa," He smiled at her, and he had to let a reluctant tear fall down his face at the thought of this moment. "I love you so much."

Not wanting to continue this any longer, she untangled herself from her father, reached up and kissed him on the cheek before turning on her heel and walking to the other end of the hall. Haley was next, they didn't need to say anything to each other because it was all said through their eyes. But he needed to hug his sister, it had been years since that had a normal hug. A heartfelt, warm family hug and this was the time to do it. "I'm sorry for everything that happened between us Haley, if I caused you anything, any pain, if you blame me for anything that happened between Mom and Dad I am sorry. You're my sister and I love you to death, just remember that."

"You need to remember that you have a kid coming," Haley said through the open tears that were now running down her cheeks. "And I don't want him or her to live without their father, and beside your wife will kill me."

Jake chuckled reluctantly. "You know I don't die easily."

Just as Alyssa had done moments before her, the younger Long sibling reached up and kissed him on the cheek before turning and walking away. He spied Luong, and he choked back a snort when the boy looked utterly helpless. But he wasn't as clueless as he seemed, he had managed to take a one Dragon and for someone who knew nothing about them, that was pretty good. "Hey kid, can I have a word with for a minute?"

"Uncle Jake," He said. "I don't know why they're acting like you're about to die. But I guess I have to follow the crowd. I can't say that I know you but you seem like a pretty upstart guy and I'm glad we got to meet for once."

The former American Dragon chuckled. "They'll explain why they're acting all crappy about my chances of living, now I want you to promise something?"

"Anything, we're family." He responded.

"My daughter's husband," He said. "If I don't make it out of here, I want you to watch him and if he so much as hurts my daughter, I want you to tear-…"

"…His heart out? Consider it done." Luong smiled before extending his hand.

Jake took it, happily and shook it. "Smart boy, not get moving."

And as quickly as Luong came and gone, his place was taken by Jackie who wore a stoic smile. "To think I once wanted to wipe your kind off the face of the Earth and you turned out to be the bravest _people_ that I've known."

"That means a lot." Jake said with a snicker.

Jackie walked forward and leaned up to his ear, she wanted to make sure that Alyssa, Luong and Haley couldn't hear what she was about to say to Jake. "The Nerve Gas is behind the door in the last room we were in, Rose told me to bring it along and she sends her love. She also told me that you would need to set it for a minute and a half silent countdown and when the timer reaches thirty seconds, if you haul ass in the other direction you can make it out alive and the Dark Dragon won't, did you get all of that?"

"God I love my wife." Jake said with a somewhat relieved smile.

The Huntress returned the smile. "She's certainly a doll. It's been a pleasure to meet you Jake Long and hopefully we can know each other later."

"Hopefully, now if you would please take them far away from this room, he's coming here fast and I don't want them as collateral damage." He whispered to which she nodded firmly and turned to join the other three.

Jake smiled and when Jackie finally walked through the other room, the doors quietly shut and he turned around and grasped his weapon tightly as if it were a life jacket. "Now I need to deal with you fucker."

… … … … … … … … … … … … … **... … … … … … … … **

Gun shot after gun shot rang out in the Bunker Anti Chamber, Rose wasn't surprised at all. Her team was heavily experienced and they could mow down hordes of Guards in several minutes. Jake's team needed the help and that's why she had put Jackie with them, she was the equivalent of their team combined and she'd keep them and her Husband alive. "I'm out, SHIT!"

That was Erin, who had now abandoned her useless assault rifle and was now firing one bullet at a time at the guards who seemed to be coming out in droves. Rose realized that the closer they got to the center of the palace and the Bunker Entrance, things began to get closer. Rose picked up her shooting and with high anger in her actions she managed to spray bullets a line of six dragons that were closing in on them. Rose looked up to one of the pillars that surrounded the center of the room and saw Daniel, taking his time in sniping out the Guards. Then to Erin and Johnny who were now back to back covering each other. "There's only five more left, we need to kee-…"

Her words were drowned out by a chill that had passed over her, and she had the urge to bury her head in the sand. Over the years she had developed some sort of sense that always told her when something bad was about to happen to someone that she loved. And she couldn't help but know that Jake was about to be at the mercy of something bad. Her heart dropped, she knew she couldn't interfere and even if she wanted to she was too help him.

As soon as the last guard was taken out, she truly hoped that the tid-bit of information she had even Jackie would come in useful to him.

She had to think that.

Or she would break down at the thought of losing Jake permanently.

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

He had done what she had suggested, expect he had set it for a five minute countdown instead. If Jake knew the Dark Dragon which he was fairly sure that he did, then the _man _would toss around some evil banter, and then they would fight. That fight would be extremely slanted, and he would have to get out of their quick as it were to get away from the poison vapor. He was ready for him now, and almost as if the Dark Dragon was reading his thoughts, the door in front of him opened. Taking one glance to the Canister that was placed in front of a ventilation shaft, and thanking the lord above that there was a storm outside. He looked back to the door.

There standing in front of the now closed doors, was the human form of the Dark Dragon and if he wasn't so stunned he would have passed out.

"What's the matter American Dragon? Don't recognize me?" The Dark Dragon asked lightly with a tone of laughter in his voice.

Jake raised a single eyebrow. "I haven't been the American Dragon in years."

"Oh that's right," His voice said, Jake couldn't see his face, but he could almost hear the smirk on it. "Your daughter, I shall visit her next."

He growled and grasped the gun he had in his hand and shot him, several times in the chest. It would be to no avail however, but it would weaken him if he was in the Human form right now. As he expected, the Dark Dragon rose up slowly on his feet and reached up to lower his hood. Jake was stricken with the feeling that he had seen that face before and for someone who was as old as the Dark Dragon, he didn't look ancient at all. In fact he looked as if he was fifty. "I-I've seen your face before haven't I?"

"If you've picked up a history book of Dragon Culture than yes, you would have," The Dark Dragon smiled tightly, apparently unaffected by the blood was now running down his chest. "My name, well my Human name was Janus, and your ancestor Emperor Draco took a lot from me. We've met countless times American Dragon and this will be the very last time."

"And why would you not mention this to me before? If you had a problem with me before why mention this now?" Jake asked quietly.

The Dark Dragon's smile tightened. "Because at the time, your Grandfather was the head of your family and only the head of _your _family can kill me. If you would have asked him he would have known about this, but you didn't and now as the head of your family, my sights are set on you!"

"The Diamond of Draco?" Jake asked.

The Dark Dragon's smile instantly turned into a scowl. "Untouchable for now, but after I finish you and your daughter, I'll deal with the Diamond and then I'll go after the rest of your family. But be assured American Dragon that every single member of your family, including your pretty little wife, will suffer and death will not come easy for them. So do we fight now?"

"As you wish, show me what you got." Jake said walking back and cocking his gun. He expected the Dark Dragon to be as giant as he had last seen him all of those years ago on Victoria Peak. Chang's power had changed him for the worse, but a thought occurred to him now. The traitorous Councilor had been dead for years and her power might have been destroyed thus.

And he was right, the Dark Dragon had been reduced, he was perhaps four feet taller than Jake in his Dragon Form, but that was better than him being fifty times larger than him. Jake smiled, maybe he did have a chance.

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

Jake had schooled her on the ways to open up the entrance to the Bunker and it had proven correct. They were now approaching the divide between the two bunkers, left led to the Council Chamber, and right led to the Diamond Chamber. They stopped at the divide, Erin was wheezing from the run down the stairs, Daniel was impatient wanting to get on with this, and Johnny was mumbling something to himself. "Alright we need to split up."

"Daniel and I can take the Council Chamber." Johnny said motion to the right, and Erin began to nod, that seemed the most logical to everyone.

She too was in agreement. "You two will need to be on your guard, that place is bound to have a lot of guards in it and you need to shot like hell."

"I can do it." Daniel said grasping his rifle tighter.

Johnny walked forward and doing something that he didn't expect, he put an arm around her and hugged her tightly. "I love you mom."

Choking back profound gratefulness and joy, she wrapped both her arms tight around him tightly and buried her face in his neck. "I love you too."

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

He hated running, his knees had bothered him for years and he just wasn't used to it without the stimulation of his Dragon Powers. Taking another three shots at the Dark Dragon, he ducked in an alcove and emptied the clip into the Dragon that was chasing him. He could now understand why Rose had always told him that he was a pain in the ass whenever he had the upper hand in one of their fights. But he didn't get why she had complained, she had the agility and skills while he was virtually nothing up against anything without his powers. "Come out and play American Dragon."

"In about a minute." Jake mumbled back to himself.

Jake needed to get out of there quick he wanted to live, so in one last move of desperation, he threw the gun directly at the eye of the most Evil Dragon in history and making sure to thank his aim, he bolted past the hulking form and out the open door. Looking down at his watch, he let down a silent countdown and when the last second passed, he stopped and he could see a green vapor that was now enfolding the room. And then his fears were done away with as a yell, a blood curling, loud, ear piercing yell sounded from the room. He dropped to his knees and laughed in joyous relief.

He wasn't going to die.

The Dark Dragon was dead.

And at last he could breathe.

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

Rose and Erin watched from their hiding places as the guards all fell to the ground and began to shake uncontrollably. When their screams began to do irritate the two Hunters, they stepped out with their guns pointed at the heads of the men. Rose growled and kicked one of the guards in the stomach, causing the man to open his eyes and look around the room in a daze. "Mrs. Long? What are you doing here?"

Lowering her weapon down onto the man's skull, she cocked the gun and put her foot on his chest. "Don't you move or I'll shoot you in the head."

"Why are you doing this?" He asked with a puzzled expression.

"What you don't remember?" Rose asked incredulously

"No," The Guard shook his head with a fury and cast his glance at the large stone wall that cut them off from the Diamond. "I guard the Council Chamber, I don't even know why I'm here."

Rose brought the barrel of her gun away from the man's head slowly, she didn't want to take a chance. "Get up and keep your hands in the air."

… … … … … … … … … … … …

Alyssa felt it, it was that piece of herself that had left her and now it had come back to her. Her body hitched, and she took a deep breath in as the Dragon Chi came back to her. Blinking, she saw her Aunt and the same thing was happening to her, not to mention the fact that her Cousin was now experiencing the same thing. When the light died down, she smirked and she felt strong again. "Well, apparently Daddy did it."

… … … … … … … … … … … …

**AN:/ It's done! And pardon my French here, BUT IT'S FINALLY FUCKING DONE! WHEW! By the way, I'm sorry if the ending seemed open ended to you, and what I mean by that is I didn't bring them all together at the end like I did with the Power of Draco. It'll piece its self together in '**_**Anything and Everything 4: New Horizons**_**' but I wanted to do it like this. Look out for New Horizons, it'll be up within the next twenty four hours! And I might write a one shot about Rose and CIA. Not sure yet, if you want me to just say so. **

**The next story should be about fifteen years after this one. Brand New Characters, New plots, New Drama, New Families. I've brought out all of the stops for the final installment and I hope you read it. **

**For the final time on **_**Anything and Everything 3: Remnant**_

**Leave a review!**


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